It Began With The Offer Of A Seat

Dear Ann Landers: I hope it’s not too late for my seat-mate story. In December 1944, I was taking the midnight train out of New York to Washington. As I walked through the cars looking for an empty seat, a sailor removed his coat from the adjacent chair and offered the seat to me.

We talked for a while and finally fell asleep. When we arrived in Washington, he asked if he could take me out for breakfast, and I accepted. He escorted me to my bus to North Carolina, gave me his address and asked me to send him mine.

We corresponded but did not see each other again until after the war. I received a letter from him that said, “Now that the war is over, I’d like to meet a nice girl and settle down. Are you available?” I guess that was a proposal. He finally returned from overseas in 1947 and gave me a diamond ring. If all goes well, we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this year. - Frances in Connecticut

Dear Frances: What a charming story! Here are a few more romantic tales:

Dear Ann Landers: Here’s how I met my seat mate. He worked for a think tank in Washington. I was newly employed by the Department of Education. We were both returning from spending the Christmas holidays with family in the Midwest. Ozark Airlines sat us next to each other.

As the plane left St. Louis, we talked about foreign films and restaurants. He had a girlfriend in Cairo; I had a boyfriend in London. We decided to go together to see the movie “Out of Africa” - but just as friends. We saw each other once a month - as friends. After a year, we saw each other weekly as friends. On the third anniversary of our meeting, we were married.

As a diplomat, my husband has been posted to Baghdad and Johannesburg. We are now raising our twin boys in northern Virginia - all thanks to Ozark Airlines. - Barbara in Virginia

Dear Ann Landers: I was flying to Colorado via New York, and after boarding the plane and sitting on the runway for over an hour, we were all told to deboard and wait until the weather cleared.

After 30 minutes in the terminal, I asked the flight attendant how much longer it would be. She said, “I have no idea.” I turned to the man next to me and said, “Incredible.” We wound up talking for the next five hours, including the flight to New York. He even asked the person originally sitting next to me to change seats with him. By the end of the flight, we were holding hands. Two years later, we were married. - Caryn in Boston

Dear Ann Landers: My first husband deserted me when our daughter was 18 months old. To make ends meet, we lived in a boarding house in the Midwest.

I had just returned from a two-day trip on a train from New York to visit my very sick mother. As I struggled up two flights of stairs, laden with suitcases, I heard my phone ringing. It was a dear friend telling me she had arranged a blind date for me with a fellow graduate student that night.

I said, “Are you crazy? I just got back from New York.” Well, the young woman who had the room next to mine overheard the conversation and said, “You are going to keep that date. I will babysit for your daughter.” She even opened my suitcase, removed a dress and pressed it for me.

My date arrived and looked up the stairs at me. He said, “What a lovely blind date you are.” We have been married 44 years now. - M.B. in California

Dear California: Beautiful! Long may you love.