Jan 19
I’ve always prayed for a type of guy to meet, every night before I go to bed, I’d ask. “Please let me find the right one and take me away from Miami.”
One day me and my mother got into a huge fight, and kicked me out.. A few days later I met the guy I’ve always wanted to me.. A month later we moved a way to Maine, and so much crazy things happened to us.
Connie Noll worked as a conference coordinator in Collins Hall at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. At 4:00 PM July 15, 1994, Connie turned off her computer, wished her office mates a great weekend, and left Collins Hall. She made the right-hand turn into the driveway at 3095 Ritner Highway and hit the garage door opener. As the garage door slowly rose, she noticed that her husband’s Cherokee was parked to the side of its normal spot. Then she saw him. “Oh my God, Jack! What have you done?” she cried out. The scene was macabre, like something out of a horror movie. As the garage door finished opening, Connie saw Jack hanging from a rope tied to a ceiling joist.
On Monday, July 25, I had a meeting with Connie Noll. This was the first time that I had met her, and I had no idea what she had just been through. We discussed the details of a conference that I was hosting in September. I left Collins Hall en route to the hospital in Harrisburg. My wife Barbara was in the hospital fighting for her life after an eighteen-month battle with breast cancer. Two days later, her breathing and her heart stopped. The doctors were able to revive her, but the prognosis was not good. She remained in a coma for twenty-one days before she finally passed away. The date was August 16, 1994, a month and one day after the death of Jack Noll.
On September 14, I went to Collins Hall to start greeting guests that were coming to the conference. I saw Connie Noll and we exchanged greetings. During our discussion she said that a co-worker told her about the loss of my wife and she offered her condolences. I thanked her and we talked briefly. I still had no idea of her personal situation. Later that day one of the War College professors asked me if I knew that Connie had just lost her husband. I felt stunned and embarrassed. I got up from my chair and went looking for Connie. When I found her I told her I had just learned about her husband, and I was terribly sorry I hadn’t returned her condolences. Connie said, “That’s okay, you wouldn’t have any reason to know.” It did not make me feel any less of a heel, but at least I had told her how I felt. I saw Connie again late in the afternoon of the second day of the conference, just before one of the breaks. We were alone in the break area. We exchanged greetings and Connie suggested maybe we ought to get together to talk. I agreed that sharing our pain and suffering was probably a good idea.
I moved to Fort Leavenworth one week later. Connie and I maintained our long distance friendship that soon developed into a mutual love. We married on September 30th 1995 and will celebrate fifteen wonderful years together in 2010.
Dec 21
Our story starts in the summer of 1998, we were both in summer school. We had a class together and I remember not thinking much about him, not really even noticing him. As the summer progressed we talked more and more and I learned more about him. He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him and go swimming. I said “yes” and thought to myself, just friends! I went to meet him and he did not show up. Later he asked again if we could hang out and I agreed again. We did start hanging out with each other all the time. I felt still like we would just be friends, not knowing at this point that he was my soul mate. This started to change the more I knew about him and the kind of person that he was. He is an amazing man, even as a teenager he was.
At the end of summer he informed me that he was moving to Denver with his Dad. We stayed together in a long distant relationship. We tried but he was trying to build a new life in Colorado, and I was enrolling in college. We broke up and our relationship was over at the end of 1999. Two years go by and not a word from him, I would write to him but never send the letters. He was all that I could think about for those two years. In 2001 I come to work, and my co-worker says “someone just came in looking for you and said that he wanted to see you but that you might not want to see him.” My mind raced, I had a few people I thought it could be but had no idea. Four hours latter I leave to go home for my lunch break. I pull out and in front of me is a camero that has Colorado plates. I look at them and think how strange Jordan lives in Colorado, but he drives a truck. The camero gets over into the other lane and I just keep driving. Then I look next to me and it is him, it was Jordan. He flags me to pull over , so I do. We decide that we are going to meet up and talk after I get off work. We do talk and figure out that neither one of us could get the other one out of our heads. The funny part about this, or the fate is that he was NEVER going to come back to my work again. He had decided that he was leaving the next day to go to Colorado. He didn’t really know what made him go into my work in the first place, he just ended up there. If I had not left my work at that exact moment in time I would never had pulled out behind him. I moved to Colorado a month latter and we have been together ever since.
Dec 18
I met my first boyfriend and quickly became involved in a spirit-breaking relationship. This lasted for a few years, and during the course I met his friends and family and we all got along famously. He was a karaoke DJ, so I got into singing karaoke. After finally having the courage to leave him, I moved out and took my dreams back.
One night a year later, I won a karaoke contest singing the song “Ballroom Blitz” and won a $50 prize, and stashed the money to use on “something perfect.” Time went by, I forgot about the money, and I started talking more and more with Aaron, my ex’s brother, who lives in Chicago. We had been great friends from the start. He suggested I visit sometime, but it didn’t seem possible because I lived in a tiny rural town in South Eastern Ohio, eight hours away. We didn’t talk for a little while, and we even started talking to other people. I read about feng shui and started re-arranging and organizing my apartment, with the intentions of “making room” for a mate. I randomly requested Memorial Day Weekend off thinking I could spend it with family, but on Thursday night decided to drive to Chicago using my prize money as gas money.
I called him and asked if it was cool, he excitingly told me yes. I drove up the next morning by myself, never having driven that far alone or in the city. We had the most amazing weekend! He was such a gentleman and we instantly fell in love. I went back home, but moved within the month to the city! All that house organization made is extremely easy to move! On the way, we got stuck in traffic and my car not only started overheating, but running out of gas as well. Full of faith, we pressed on and made it just fine. Aaron is amazing and his family is still great and understanding . I love the city and all the opportunities! I once requested information from an art school in Chicago, because I want to study fashion. I put the pamphlet away because it didn’t seem feasible, and then I found it again after I moved. I plan to start school next year. If it hadn’t been for my ex-boyfriend, one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through, I wouldn’t have met Aaron or be able to fulfill my dreams! To top everything off, my karaoke contest song choice “Ballroom Blitz” was also sang by Tia Carrere in the movie Wayne’s World, which takes place in… Chicago!
Dec 7
My name is Danny Kofke and I met my wife through a chance encounter.
I was an elementary education major and, during my last semester, was assigned to student teach at a school down the road from my house. A week before school started, I got a call from my college saying the teacher I was assigned to teach with was no longer at that school so I was assigned to teach at a completely different school with another teacher.
At this new assigned school, I met my wife-to-be, Tracy. She was a first grade teacher there and we fell in love pretty quickly and wed less than one year later.
It has been ten years since we met through this chance encounter and I often think how different my life would be if the teacher I was originally assigned to had not transferred.
Tracy and I have had a wonderful 10 years together. We have lived and taught in Europe, have 2 beautiful daughters and basically have great lives because of someone else’s decision. I feel that we were met to be together – she is my soulmate – and am so fortunate to have met her!
Dec 4
How my partner and I FINALLY found our way to each other. The first time I saw her, I was in College. I was an art major and It was the third week of classes, I happened to class very early she was in my sculpture classroom. She was welding a very large sculpture, an enormous Sacred Heart. I was in total awe of her. She was tall, bleach blond hair, leather jacket, jeans and black boots, absolutely my dream girl. At the time I had a girlfriend, so I never pursued it. However, I followed her through the art building until she was gone. I didn’t see her again, until two years later, I was in a restaurant with a different girlfriend and she came up to my table and asked if we would be interested in going to a party. I was shocked to see her and so excited. I believe that at this time I was obsessed with her, but had to ignore it because it just wasn’t our time. Another two years went by, I was involved with someone else who happened to have a common friend who was friends with Debbie. We finally came in contact with each other, but once again, it was the wrong time. We did become very good friends. I wanted to tell her that I wanted to be with her, but I was devoted to my girlfriend and she was also with someone else. After a year of friendship she told me she was moving to Philly with her girlfriend. I was devastated. She felt I wasn’t interested in our friendship anymore and we lost touch, I never stopped thinking about her. Another two years went by and I saw her again at a local bar.Nothing came of that. I still thought about her every single day. There is a road named after her family last name. I would purposely drive by it every day because I missed her. Finally, after another two years, in 2006, I was on my way home from work and happened to be with my ex. The traffic was so bad that we decided to stop in Hampden and go to Holy Frijoles for a drink. When we walked in I saw her. She was gorgeous. She was perfect (still is) dark hair, leather jacket, black boots and a motorcycle helmet. I was so nervous I started to panic. Once she saw me, we hugged and we just talked and talked. She gave me her number and took off. I knew at that moment that I was going to be with her for the rest of my life. When I got home that night I sent her a text message saying that I thought about her every single day for the past 10 years. We have been together ever since. We bought our first house together two years ago and are so in love and devoted to one another. Best thing in my life!
Nov 24
I was fighting in the woods battle at Pennsic an SCA event in Butler PA. when I was struck in the arm with an arrow. I figured I would take someone out with me so I charged into the smallest shield across from me. As we collided I heard “EEP” my first thought was oh crap I just flattened a chick.
I peered over her shield to see if she was ok and I only saw her eyes and fell in love with her at that moment. I looked all over for her that year to no avail. Then in August 2006, at the same event but in the field battle our units were fighting together and after I was killed I walked off of the battlefield and sat on the ground. When all of a sudden Sarah came over in full armor and asked me if I had seen her crossbow. I could not speak, I could hardly breathe, “at last I have found her.
That evening I walked to her camp and asked her if she had found her crossbow. It was pouring down rain but we decided to go for a walk anyhow We walked and talked until we came upon a large pavilion tent with hay bales underneath. We sat and talked most of the night the next day we got up and fought again. And this continued throughout the week. At the end of the week I offered to drive her home to Alexandria VA. She had commuted to Pennsic with her ex boyfriend and accepted my offer. We talked the whole way back to Ohio where I lived at the time because I had to work the next day. After work I took her back to Alexandria and I headed home the next day for work. I commuted to Alexandria VA from Akron OH every weekend to see Sarah. Finally on September 20, 2009 I moved to Alexandria to be with the woman I love. Here I am three years later and still madly in love with Sarah.
The real magic of the story come before the meeting in our life events leading up to the moment. This cannot be told in only 500 words.
WE GET PEOPLE TALKING.
