How we found love

Our readers share short and sweet tales of true love found

The Sebastopol Times invited readers to share stories of how they found love. The hitch? They had to do it in 125 words or less. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Andy and I met in our Maryland high school music theory class and played in a rock band together for two years. We had a crush on each other but never got together, and then I moved to California right after graduation. Twenty-seven years later, I woke up thinking about him. Two hours after that, he sent me a message on Facebook for the first time in all those years. I was shocked and felt sure fate was involved. After talking together for hours every night for two months, he flew out for a visit, and we eloped! He’s the pot of honey at the end of my rainbow. We’re starting a new band, Honeybee, right here in Sebastopol. Love wins!
—Natalie Johnson

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I had one date in 12 years and lived with my cat on the top of a hill in a cattle pasture for the past four years, when my brother, who was tired of my complaining, said, “Try the Senior Center.” I did and joined a discussion group led by a woman. We became friends. She was born and raised in the hills above Redding and went to a two-room schoolhouse. I’m from Philadelphia. We had both been married, more than once. I’m Jewish and an engineer, she’s a retired minister in the U.C.C. Church. We were both old. After a year I proposed, and she said, “Yes.” We will celebrate our 15th anniversary in April, provided she doesn’t kill me first. Go figure!
—Aaron Rosen

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I fell for Cameron unexpectedly—seven years my junior, with a magnetic pull beyond logic. At the office, his voice made the world dissolve, his smile made me smile ear to ear, despite me trying to be “cool.” Then, one fateful day, during a company happy hour, as colleagues drifted away for one reason or another, something electric sparked between us. Impulsively, I broke the silence: “You have one chance to kiss me.” That moment changed everything. Fourteen years later, the memory still feels charged with possibility. Our spontaneity became our story—a testament to trusting instincts and embracing an unexpected connection. Ten years of marriage have only deepened what began with those heart-racing words.
—Defne Crowe

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I found my true love thanks to a stray dog. Arriving at work one morning, a single guy was surprised by a stray dog. The dog had chosen wisely. She located the guy with the softest heart. Old softie adopted the dog, but couldn’t stay in his apartment. So he bought the dog a house. That house was near where my best friend’s co-worker lived. My best friend was on a mission to find me a guy. When she heard about the new neighbor, she made plans for us to meet. She arranged a meeting and was successful in her match. Old softie and I have been married for over 30 years. All thanks to a wonderful, stray dog and one very determined best friend.
—Cindia Brody

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Like most of us, I have fallen in and out of love many times in my 67 years. Dogs, horses, boys. My true love soul mate passed away many years ago, and there has been an emptiness in my heart since then. I could not find it in myself to open up to new love opportunities. That all changed with the birth of my grandson, Miles. The moment I held the newborn in my arms and gazed into his eyes, it was as if a lightning bolt shot through me. The emptiness in my heart was filled and running over with love. I did not think I would ever experience such a wonderful feeling again. What a blessing my grandson has been in my life!
—Vickie Morse

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We fell in love in Truk. I was extremely late to the meeting, missing introductions of other Peace Corps volunteers from other Palau archipelago sites. I saw this glowing strawberry-blonde beauty directly across from me. I kept glancing at her. Afterward, we began returning to our assignment areas by land or boat. Before my long three-hour journey, we met and I learned her name was Jean—so perfect for her simple presence, warm smile and innocent, unjudging eyes. I was floating. Two months later I saw her again on a tiny island in the Truk lagoon. She was singing, wading and vulnerable in her hiked-up muumuu in a taro patch plucking tubers, purely herself, loving a new experience. I was falling in love, my new experience.
—Jeff Boal

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Oh goodness…I had been off-and-on online dating post-divorce for nearly 12 years before finally meeting my beloved at age 43. When you online date, you have to take breaks or else you’ll go crazy. I told myself ‘one more online date’ in the spring of 2018 before taking another long break. Daemon was adorable that first date at Skate’s On the Bay in Berkeley, and we completely jibed…we were nervous, silly. He called me five minutes after the date as I drove home, saying, “Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed our date and hope you get home safely.” We moved in together a year later and have shared a life since, marrying in a backyard during the pandemic.
—Ann Hertelendy

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It was not love at first sight, but she brought me Meyer lemons. I was a bit jaded and weary from at least 30 first dates, mostly from “matches” on dating apps. This date was brunch at a local spot; since it was June, we opted for a seat in the parklet. For most of my first dates, I chose a quick coffee meet-up where it would be easy to duck out if need be. But I had already talked on FaceTime to M and could tell we had enough in common to enjoy a meal together. She made me laugh with similar New York Jewish sensibilities. My profile on Match had asked for smart and funny—she was both. It took me over a year to commit.
—Natasha Dallin

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I was in the middle of getting divorced when a psychic told me I was to marry a man named Reuben. About a year later, Reuben and I met at a business event and some months later, he asked me out to lunch. We began dating, but it wasn’t til a few months later, when he came over for dinner and offered to bring dessert. That evening, when I opened the door, there he stood with a stack of poetry books in his arms. That was dessert. I fell in love with him at that moment. That was 42 years ago, with two sons and twin grandkids later. And we’re still in Sebastopol.
—Padi Selwyn

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We met in a hardware store. A friend and I were buying picture hangers. “Nice to meet you.” Next a party at a friends’ home. Some months later a group of us went to a Greek restaurant to eat and dance. He called. We married a few years later.
—Sophie Beth Pettigrew

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I’d just broken up with my longtime boyfriend, when a man I barely knew began asking me out. We went on a few dates, but I was heading off on a month-long backpacking adventure. I told a mutual friend to tell him to back off and give me some space. When our friend delivered the message, my would-be suitor blanched and cried, “Oh no, I just launched the missiles!” The missiles were 12 long-stemmed red roses with a note that said, “I am in love with you.” Twenty days into backpacking—in the Sierra, the Ruby Mountains and Trinity—I developed giardiasis, an acute diarrheal illness. I called him up and asked if I could recover at his house. He agreed, and I never left.
—Laura Hagar Rush

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I decided to drop Calculus 1B; who cares if x = y+1? The line to drop the class was a block long. I didn’t have anything to do….until one of our breakfast hashers joined me. I recognized him as the guy who served me breakfast; we chatted about his travels, family, and why he was taking Spanish classes until we got to the head of the line. Days later, he called me on the spur of the moment and interrupted the writing of an English paper, inviting me to a flamenco concert. We spent Spring Break with my aunt in Palm Springs, and summer session at his studio apartment. The only honeymoon we could afford was the registration for the first semester of my sophomore year.
—Gale Brownell

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In August of 2002, at age 58 I was resigned to being single.
My friend told me to do activities
I liked.
On a hike with the Marin Moonshiners group on Mt Tamalpais, I noticed
a cute tall man and
introduced myself. When we stopped to eat our bag lunches on the
mountain I saw him again. We
connected and stayed together through the hike, the campfire on Muir
Beach, and the drinks at Pelican
Inn. He said he was a burnt-out hospital accountant and might someday
get back together with his wife of
33 years.
I asked, “How long have you been separated?”
He said, “Seven years.”
I thought, he is fair game. We have been happy together ever since.
—Sue Foster

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Love Story #4

I daresay it helps to
Not be looking
for Love as it Takes its
own time
We were explicitly doing what
We love
as it landed on us
[how many times can we even do this?]
True, not looking
nor even planning as it
Started slow then got real, fast

We are hoarding Love now. As if
one could store it in a barrel
Gathering it in one’s hands and
Arms like royalty

If haters be hatin’
Lovers gotta be Lovin’ more

Open the Saturday morning
sexy, longlean body windows
& sleepily look out dreaming
Emphatically, YES
Every time; humanity!
For even the man with the umbrella
gets caught in the rain
sometimes.

—Greg Ceniceroz

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Reunion Love Story

Number: 40th, September 2005

Where: Troy, Ohio

Classmates from: Stonington, Connecticut and Sebastopol.

Details: Many overlapping connections discovered later but no
connections during high school.

Reunion details: Picture a crowded Elks Club ballroom with tables
lined with large coffee filters filled with nuts, pretzels, potato
chips AND under fluorescent lights!

Then: Imagine this…turning from one conversation to see a classmate
from 40 years ago who asks, “Who Are You?”

Next: That led to two months of important coast-to-coast conversations
and then an 8-day-long first date in Connecticut, including a
proposal!!

Now: Following a move from Connecticut to Sebastopol and marriage in
2006, these last 20 years have been filled with family, adventures and
love.

—Cie and Rob Cary

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