Eccentricity Lives In Sync

Dear Ann Landers: This is the story of how my mother and father met. They are too embarrassed to write, so I’m doing it for them.

My parents were both studying in a library at Harvard University 21 years ago. It was late, and there was a full moon. Each thought the library was empty. My mother, at one end of the library, went to the window and started to howl at the moon. My father, who was at the other end of the library, also started to howl at the moon. When my mother heard someone else howling, she walked to where the sound was coming from and saw my father howling.

Mom said she had seen him on the campus but he seemed sort of “nerdy.” When she saw him howling, her opinion changed.

She hoped he would ask her out, but he didn’t, so she asked him. He was quite shy, but she was very fond of him and hung in there for five years. Finally, he proposed, and they got married.

In August, they’ll be celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary. They are still very much in love - and they still hold hands and howl at full moons.

The story of how they met has always sounded romantic to me, and I thought others might enjoy hearing how the moon brought my parents together. - T.M., Belmont, Mass.

Dear Belmont: Thanks for sharing the story of your “lunatic” parents. I’m happy to know they are still having a howling good time together.

Dear Ann Landers: Can you use another letter about how spouses met? After two of my marriages sank in the sea of matrimony, I decided never again - and vowed to stay single for the rest of my life.

I was invited to a party at the home of a fraternity brother. I was slightly bored and just about to leave when in walked another fraternity brother with Edna. One look, and I was a goner. She was a knockout. After a brief conversation, I was smitten. She told me quite promptly that she was a widow.

The next day, I called my friend and asked for Edna’s phone number. After some hesitation, he gave it to me. I phoned her, and we had dinner. I was in love with the woman after that first date. All my friends said, “Have you lost your mind? Edna has three children.” Well, I didn’t care.

On our fourth date, I came to her door and her 4-year-old daughter opened it. She said, “Oh no, not you again.” Well, it WAS me again for 40 more years.

Edna and I were truly happy. With her, I discovered what true love was all about. My beloved Edna passed away three years ago, and I still miss her every day of my life. - James in Largo, Fla.

Dear James: What a beautiful love story. Thank you for sharing it.

Dear Ann Landers: What is a wife supposed to do with a husband who can’t tell a story without exaggerating to the nth degree?

If there were actually six people in the story, he makes it eight or 12. If he sprained a toe, he says he broke his foot and was in a cast for six weeks. When people appear skeptical, he looks at me and says, “Right, Ella?”

We’ve been married 54 years, and he has a lot of good qualities, but I hate having to back up his lies. Any suggestions? - Stymied in St. Pete

Dear St. Pete: After 54 years, grin and bear it, dear. If exaggerating is his worst fault, consider yourself lucky.

Gem of the Day: Nobody gets a second chance to make a good first impression.