Stories with Strangers

Hello everyone and welcome to week seven of Stories with Strangers! The story that we got this week is definitely one you’re going to want to grab a box of tissue or send to a friend so you have someone to get teary-eyed with you. The story is something of a really romantic Hallmark film. Before we dive into the story, this week’s setting was a bit unusual compare to it usually.  

During this last weekend I went out with some friends to the Main Event, which is basically an arcade with bowling and other fun activities. During this time I was sitting down to eat and I brought my little sign that I usually do except this time the gift was a free drink since it seemed to be the best option for this area. I had some unusual interactions with some due to them not being fully there but eventually, I got the story I wanted to share. I had an older gentleman named Craig come up to me and he looked like he just need a break. I asked him about it and he said he had been there for about 4 hours with his grand kids. Craig asked if he could share a kind of funny love story and me being the writer that I am, thought that sounded interesting. Craig opened up how the woman he loved and would marry he met in high-school, but when they first met she had a boyfriend and he was just the new kid in school since his family were a part of the military and they traveled a lot. Her name was Blanche, she was French and was just stunning to look at with her captivating blue eyes and flowing blonde hair. About two months after Craig arriving at the school, Blanche broke up with her boyfriend so after some time Craig decided to shoot his shot with her and asked her out to the formal they had coming up around the corner, she said yes and Craig was ecstatic to the point he felt like a little kid on Christmas day. Skipping a little ahead, Craig was informed about a month after starting his relationship with Blanche that he and his family would be moving again and this crushed him. He knew that the relationship was still young but for some reason he felt like this person was the one. He had to inform Blanche of the move and he was planning to break up with her so she could live her own life. When he brought this up to her she had a response that he had not planned for. She said “Craig, do you want this? I know I want this even if I may be a bit foolish for putting my life on hold but I’m willing to wait for you and in the meantime maybe we can write to each other.” Craig was dumbfounded, he told me about how he felt shocked since she was way out of his league and also because he was nothing too special he felt. Craig after thinking to himself for a second however said yes with lots of enthusiasm. It took about 4 years of constant letters back and fourth, but finally, after he graduated college he moved out to just outside of Denver to the area in which his wife was attending college. He then recalled the moment of seeing here for the first time in four year and what that felt like. He drove out to her college to surprise her since they had planned it for a while and when he got there he saw her standing outside her dorm building and he just looked at her and started crying because of how connected he felt to this girl. She of course saw this since we all know how observant women are to that kind of thing and she came inside his car and just gave him a kissed on the cheek and said “Took you long enough dummy.” he couldn’t help but to laugh and then they went out for dinner to discuss over the time missed. They ended up dating for seven months and then Craig popped the question and she said yes. After the rest is history. Craig ended the story by telling me how he learned how long good things can take to eventually come into your life. If you’re willing to wait, you’re going to have the splendors of life pop onto your lap.  

Craig was a cute story I was shocked to hear how long that all took for him and Blanche to get together. After he told his story we ended the night both enjoying a Shirley Temple and he even listened to some of my wild stories!