And they said it wouldn't last...

A special day for us today, as we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary! We were married May 12th, 1984 at a little church in Galetta, Ontario, Canada.

We were only 22 years old when we got married. And we had only known each other for just over a year!

It's funny how a random act leads to 30 years of wedded bliss. Or something like that.

Yep, it's official now!

We met in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. I was working at an auto body repair shop, and Ruth had just graduated as a hairstylist and was working at a First Choice Haircutters franchise. I had been putting in a lot of hours, and badly needed a haircut. It was late Saturday afternoon, and I walked into the First Choice Haircutters at about 5:30pm. The receptionist told me that they close at 6:00pm and that she would have to check and see if one of the stylists would stay a little late for me.

Sure enough, Ruth stepped up to the plate!

We had the normal haircutting chitchat as she worked away, and during that conversation I found out that she wasn't doing anything that Saturday night. I had no plans either. Hmmm.

There's that beautiful big smile!

But I didn't have the nerve to ask her out. At least not in person.

So when we were finished, I quickly drove home to my parents, only about five minutes away. I looked up the number of the shop, and called. In my head, I had kind of rehearsed what I wanted to say. But I was expecting the receptionist to answer, which might give me another 30 seconds to compose myself. 

Instead, Ruth herself answered the phone!

I told her who it was, and I said that since she wasn't doing anything that night, and I wasn't either, that maybe we should do something together. To my amazement, she said "okay"!

The wedding party.

That night, I picked her up at her apartment and we went to see a movie. It was a terrible movie! We had planned on seeing the popular movie "Tootsie", but when we got there it was sold out. So instead, we chose "The Sting, II". 

The original movie "The Sting" with Paul Newman and Robert Redford was a great movie.

"The Sting, II" ?...not so much. It was a terrible movie!

With our parents.

After the movie, we went to Golden Palace Chinese Food.  And we had some egg rolls and won ton soup. Still to this day the best egg rolls in Ottawa! We had a lot of great conversation, and there was definitely a spark.

Against the advice of my best friend (and later the best man) I called her again on Monday. He had said to wait a few days and not appear too anxious. But I was anxious! She was actually expecting me to call on Sunday, and wondered why I didn't. So we got together again on Monday evening, and we saw each other again on Tuesday...and pretty much every day after that. 

We were hooked. About a month after that, we decided to get married. But we didn't tell anyone because they would have thought we were nuts! But we were in love.

Even then, when we finally did start to tell people, some of them did think we were nuts.

At the time, I told Ruth that if she married me, she would never be bored. I think we've lived up to that statement!

In the time before the planned wedding in May of the next year, we got our own apartment and moved in together.

Ruth and Tina, their family dog at the time.

We were married in the little church in the village of Galetta just behind Ruth's father's back yard. The church only sat about 80 people, so it was full. That church was sold a few years ago and was converted into someone's house. Funny, but we were in that house only three weeks ago!

And the rest is history. Sure, we've had our moments over the years, just like any other couple. But what an adventure it's been! And we've never been bored, that's for sure.

Looking forward to the next 30 years and whatever they may bring!