Shannon here: Betty Woods shares how she met her husband, plus a chance to win her latest Historical Romance, Treasure & Trouble. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a print copy. U. S. only. Deadline: August 10th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Betty:
Since it’s summer, I’ll share my story of how I met my husband, Craig, and our first kiss on a moonlit beach.
We celebrated our fiftieth anniversary in March. On a May, Tuesday night, I asked God to send me a Christian boyfriend. Heavy emphasis on friend. The year before, I’d endured a broken engagement with a cheating fiancé and wasn’t interested in more than a fun guy to hang out with.
My knight in shining armor drove up in a 1970 Dodge Challenger the next Saturday afternoon on Memorial Day weekend. I was at a local park with my friends from church. He and his lime green car grabbed everyone’s attention. A mutual friend had already told me about a Christian soldier he’d met stationed at Fort Hood with him and asked if he could bring his friend up to introduce him to me. I’d been playing touch football with my pals, so I greeted Craig wearing my jeans and cotton shirt with my long hair in a mess. Definitely not the magazine model look. Craig didn’t mind. He’s always been more interested in the real person than the outward package people see.
His thick Minnesota accent and my native Texan accent made communicating interesting. He’s an introvert. I’m an extrovert. But we had a fun afternoon talking and finding out about each other. I decided I’d like to know him better. He talked about seeing me at church the next day.
That evening, the friend who had brought him along, called my parents with a problem. The people who had said Craig could stay with them couldn’t keep their promise. My parents felt sorry for a soldier so far from home and said Craig could sleep on our couch. So Craig and I had no problem meeting up at church the next morning.
After church. Craig asked me to go to Six Flags over Texas the next day. Because as he told me later, I was the only girl he knew to ask and he’d heard about Six Flags and wanted to go.
Our first date and first real time alone was at Six Flags. We talked about our families, his job in the Army and mine as a keypunch operator. Nothing earth shattering. I did most of the talking and pried answers from him sometimes. But this genuine quiet guy impressed me. Especially, since he didn’t want to be more than friends.
Craig also impressed my parents, because his main purpose to come was to go to a good church. They told him he could come back and sleep on our couch. I wasn’t entirely happy with that invitation even though I liked Craig. If he came too often, my friends would soon be tagging him as my boyfriend and assuming we were becoming more than friends.
Yet he came back every weekend but two until we married the next March. The more we got to know each other, the more we found to like. His parents were coming to see him the week of July Fourth. Craig had leave for that time. They planned a camping trip on Galveston Island. Craig asked if I’d come too. I had asked for that week for vacation before he and I met. God was already working, and we didn’t know it. I said I’d come. By this time we were both thinking about being more than friends but hadn’t talked about it.
At that time, people could pitch a tent on the beach at a lot of places on Galveston Island. Craig, his parents and youngest sister slept in the tent. His other younger sister and I slept on air mattresses in the back of their 1970’s station wagon. A real luxury trip. But so much fun enjoying the ocean Craig had never seen and getting to know some of his family.
Neither of us will ever forget that July 4th, six weeks after we met. We were all sitting by the campfire that night. As the fire died down, the others left to give Craig and me time alone. Craig asked if he could kiss me. I said yes. Our first kiss was under the stars by the embers of a dying campfire with the waves rolling in on Galveston Island.
Question for Readers: Have you ever been camping? Where? Roughing it in a tent or in an RV? What did you enjoy or not enjoy about it?
About Betty: Betty Woods writes heartwarming romance with a Southern accent. She’s an incurable history buff who was once mistaken for the tour guide at an historical site while answering her grandchildren’s questions. When not living in her make-believe nineteenth century world, she enjoys time with her family, especially vacations with children, grandchildren and great grands. Doing RV trips with her husband and Chihuahua to research information for books is one of her other favorite things to do. Learn more & connect:
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About the book – Treasure & Trouble:
Can a pampered Southern belle give up her life of luxury to follow her heart?
Eugenia Hampton wants to be loved for who she is, not what she has. Her parents intend to see her married and cared for, but she’s determined not to be a mere parlor decoration to show off some man’s achievements. She wants a love match or no match.
Paul Stuart is tired of clashing with people over his abolitionist views—especially with his father, who is the overseer for Eugenia’s father. Paul is saving money to move from Tennessee and buy a farm in Illinois where he can live in peace with people of like-minded ideas.
Paul rescues Eugenia after her horse throws her. They form a secret, forbidden friendship based on their common family problems. Neither of them expects their relationship to grow into love. But when Eugenia’s father selects a non-Christian man for her husband, she must choose between her known and comfortable life of luxury or a lifetime of love with Paul, where little else will be certain.
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Treasure & Trouble Betty’s Books
Come back Aug 2nd for Janalyn Voigt!
We love camping. Just came back from a week long family camping reunion 🙂
We used to camp in tents but upgraded to RV and later a Travel Trailer.
I have a winner. Natalya Lakhno won the drawing. I appreciate Betty for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.