August 3, 1998 was Gail and Paul’s first date. In many ways, it was not anything special, but in other ways it pointed to our compatibility. We had started emailing each other near the end of June. A mutual friend had suggested to me that Gail needed a pen pal. I knew that she was matchmaking and I almost did not email Gail. The only reason I did, was that I was in Colorado and Gail was in Oregon. The matchmaking was not going to work because of the long distance. So this first date was just to see who I had been emailing. I was out visiting my folks, and Gail and I had planned a hike in the Columbia River Gorge and have lunch together. That was it.
We met at The Grotto parking lot in Portland. It was easy to find each other because there were a couple of bus loads of Asian tourists there, and it appeared that we were the only two Caucasians. We drove to Multnomah Falls hoping to hike to the top but the trail was closed. We did get a picture taken on the bridge there. The guy who took the picture told us to get closer together and act like we liked each other. We had just met less than an hour ago.
We ended up hiking up behind Wahkeema Falls. As we hiked up the Gorge wall, we talked and learned more about each other. We came down and had a lunch Gail prepared, and then the date was supposed to end. But we decided to drive over to Portland’s Rose Garden and there continued our conversation. We talked until it was getting late. We stopped because we had to make sure to pick up Gail’s car at The Grotto before it closed. Since it was dinner time, we stopped at a nearby restaurant, “Elmer’s”, and that was our first date.
It ended up being a lot longer than I had planned, and yet there was no spark for either of us. I did not think anything of it even though we talked much longer than planned. Gail was a nice lady and I enjoyed my time with her. I was still a confirmed bachelor. Gail learned that I was a “Lord of the Rings” fan so she read “The Fellowship of the Ring”. She struggled to read the book and was surprised to find out that it was just the first of three books. (She still ended up marrying me, and did enjoy the BBC Lord of the Rings radio drama and the movies.)
We continued emailing each other. By the time December came around, I knew I wanted to spend more time with Gail, so I took an extra long Christmas vacation to visit my folks. I did not see much of my folks, but I saw a whole lot of Gail, and at the end of the vacation I realized that I was in love.
We got engaged in February, and on August 15, 1999, I married Gail. That is now 26 years ago and it all started 27 years ago with email and that first date. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with Gail. She has been a wonderful partner in life.
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Gail here:
Paul captured the day well. I want to add that the timing of our meeting was God’s perfect timing. Meeting Paul at that point in my life was just right. God had been working in both of us over the years and I can see how meeting any earlier would not have worked out as well. The way we met was also perfect. We saw that we were compatible and over the months that we continued to email nearly daily, I learned so much about what Paul thought and how he lived. With the “pressure off” our love and attraction grew. We could “talk” thoughtfully about important things through email, and I learned that Paul was wise, kind, and generous. He was and is God’s gift to me. We are very different, but wonderfully suited to each other. It’s a joy to live life together!
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More of the story can be found with these blog posts: Before Engagement and During Engagement.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)
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