Anne Mateer – Real Life Romance – Part 1 of 2

Historical romance author, Anne Mateer shares her real life romance and a chance to win a copy of her debut novel, Wings of a Dream. Every time you comment on any post dated Oct 26 – 28, your name will go in the drawing. Deadline: Nov 5, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Anne:

Eighteen years old, with high school graduation looming on the horizon, I longed for adventure all on my own. Oh, I knew I’d go off to college that August, but I itched for something new before that. I’d been invited to be a counselor at Texas Girls State, but that would only involve a week or two. The rest of the summer after graduation would slide by in the familiar — my job at the Hallmark store, babysitting here and there, and hanging out with friends. And in the midst of the familiar, unwelcome change would intrude. My parents prepared to pack up our house, the house I’d lived in since before I’d turned five, and move across town. So when the call came asking if I’d be interested in a summer internship program in Washington, D.C., it didn’t take me long to answer a resounding “Yes!” 
I had no idea what I was getting into, really. Just that it was a program designed for conservative, politically-interested college students to get experience working in D.C. I just saw it as a chance to get a head start on the freedom that would be mine in college life.
The group of interns, college-aged kids from various parts of the United States, lived in an apartment building in Alexandria, VA. We rode a bus into the city for work each morning. We attended occasional field trips and seminars together. And we hung out in each other’s apartments in the evenings and on weekends. It was fun meeting completely new people, making new friends.
One guy was particularly into the political scene. Getting ready to enter his junior year of college, he’d already been elected Vice-President of the College Republicans for the entire state of Pennsylvania! He had big plans— a law degree, a few years as a litigator before running for office, returning to D.C. This guy was going places! To top it off, he declared himself a Christian.
And he noticed me.
Me. The girl guys never noticed.
We talked often, became friends. He sat with me on the bus to and from work, introduced me to Bruce Springsteen music (Born in the USA was a hit that summer), and finally asked me out. From the moment we walked across the street to have dinner at Red Lobster, we became almost inseparable.
Ironically, he’d been placed to work in my congressman’s office, a freshman legislator quickly making a name for himself. He loved being around the movers and shakers, even if he mostly just took constituents on tours of the capital. I worked two or three blocks away at a conservative lobbyist organization. Honestly, I don’t remember any of the real work I did in the office, for my world revolved around my summer romance. Most afternoons we met for lunch on the benches in front of the capital building, shaded by trees, squirrels scampering at our feet. (Of course this was pre-9/11. No barriers or security between us and the steps of the capital building.)
We spent those few weeks exploring D.C., even renting a car with some others in our program and making day trips to Williamsburg and Gettysburg. We braved the crush of the crowd to attend the Beach Boys Fourth of July concert in the Mall (the last one!) and spent hours sharing our hopes and dreams for the future. We returned to our respective homes and colleges in August with hopeful promises that we would see each other again.
I went to Washington D.C. in the summer of 1985 looking for a grown-up adventure. And boy did I get one! Twenty-six years later, I’m still living it. That guy who captured my attention with his big dreams has turned into an amazing man who desires only to follow God’s lead. Though life hasn’t taken us where we expected to go all those years ago, it has never ceased to be an adventure worth taking together.
About Anne: Anne Mateer is a three-time Genesis Contest finalist who has long had a passion for history and historical fiction. She and her husband live near Dallas, Texas, and are the parents of three young adults.
About the book: Rebekah Hendricks dreams of a life far beyond her family’s farm in Oklahoma, and when dashing aviator Arthur Samson promised adventure in the big city, she is quick to believe he’s the man she’s meant to marry. While she waits for the Great War to end and Arthur to return to her so they can pursue all their plans, her mother’s sister falls ill. Rebekah seizes the opportunity to travel to Texas to care for Aunt Adabelle, seeing this chance to be closer to Arthur’s training camp as God’s approval of her plans.
But the Spanish flu epidemic changes everything. Faced with her aunt’s death, Arthur’s indecisiveness, and four children who have no one else to care for them, Rebekah is torn between the desire to escape the type of life she’s always led and the unexpected love that just might change the dream of her heart.
Come back Oct 28th for the rest of Anne’s story.