Seattle anniversary tales: Longtime married couple discovered love on the bowling alley

Seattle Dating Scene features readers’ thoughts and stories about what it is like to date in Seattle. For our next feature, follow this prompt: Are you trying to resolve an argument with your significant other? Do you need guidance on where to have a socially distant date or do you need other advice? Send your questions to our columnist Marina Resto, who runs the lively Instagram account @Dating_in_Seattle.

Please email your questions to dating@seattletimes.com by Thursday February 11th or send them to @dating_in_seattle via Instagram direct message. They may be answered by Marina in a future issue of The Mix.

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Happy anniversary, tell us your story

We asked readers to submit stories about how they met their significant other. Here are some of your success stories!

Answers have been edited for spelling and clarity purposes.

Lisa and Ken

“We met in Pullman when we were working in the grocery store in the center of town. Ken stocked shelves. I went to the deli. His calm demeanor and big blue eyes caught my attention, but I was already engaged. I graduated this school year. He came to the deli to say goodbye and I remember feeling deeply sorry not to see him again.

About 18 months passed and I returned to Pullman to return home. As my friend and I were in the stands playing the game, I saw Ken walking up the aisle. We talked briefly, just long enough to let him know that I was no longer engaged.

Later that day, I decided to visit my brother, who worked in the same shop that Ken and I had worked in. What luck! I found my brother talking to Ken. Ken and I spent the next few hours meeting. He confessed that when we saw each other at the game, he had somehow got into the wrong gear. As someone with a keen sense of direction, that was confusing for him. Months later, we decided that it was fates that had used their magic to bring us together.

When the weekend came to an end, we drove home. I was a new teacher living with my parents in Kirkland. He had just returned from Germany and lived with his parents in Spokane. We spoke by phone for the next few weeks. Then he was offered a leadership position in a restaurant. He could work in Spokane or Seattle. Yes, he chose Seattle.

We spent the next few months meeting. He even helped me move into my first apartment. At one point, when we were unpacking a box, I stopped and, not knowing what to say, I looked at him and told him we would be together for a long time. I was as surprised as he was by what I said, but he didn’t argue.

Christmas came and he gave me a piece of jewelry. He had “Ken and Lisa, our first Christmas” engraved on it. That was a bit annoying despite my earlier comment. We hadn’t talked about a long-term relationship yet. I wasn’t sure what to think of this gift.

The restaurant had a policy that the new managers were transferred abroad after completing their training to gain experience. Knowing his training was over, I thought it was time to say goodbye. Instead, he quit his job without telling me and began to wait tables. A year later we got engaged. I’m still joking that I had to say yes to his proposal because I inadvertently influenced his career choices.

After 26 years of marriage and three wonderful children, there is no regret. And that first ornament is still hanging on our Christmas tree, surrounded by the ornaments that Ken gives our children and me every year. “

– Lisa

Valerie and Pat

Valerie and Pat came together through their love of bowling – and now they own their own bowling alley. (Courtesy Valerie Johns)

“In the late 1970s, at the request of my best friend, I joined a bowling league at the Skyway Park Bowl. This season I got my name on the high score board.

Pull-tab vending machines had arrived and I decided to try my luck. I pulled a $ 50 prize ticket. I was 19 years old. The man at the front desk was the “professional” in the center. He had to take my ID and when he saw my name he said, “I was wondering who you are. I saw your name on the highscore board. ‘

In the 1978/79 season a place was opened in the ‘Reno League’, which followed my league. The secretary asked me to participate. I did, and the “pro” was bowling in that league too.

We started talking every week and he ended up asking me out on a date. Pat took me to a nice restaurant in Redmond called the Velvet Turtle. He ordered an artichoke to share, my first ever. Now I grow them in my garden every year. Two years later, we were married on February 8, 1981, and we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary this month.

[Editor’s note: Valerie and Pat now own their own bowling center.]

Unfortunately we were closed for nine of the last 11 months due to the coronavirus. It was frustrating for us when gyms were allowed to be open. Bowling is the main sport for many of our customers. Everyone wears a mask and obeys all the rules. We were allowed to open again on February 1st with two people per lane. It’s quite a change from five per lane, but we’re happy to be back open. Although we lost a lot of money during the shutdown, we were able to enjoy the time doing things we used to do, like reading the Sunday Seattle Times, solving the puzzles and exploring our beautiful state. “

– Valerie

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Get together with our Seattle Times dating team at this pre-Valentine’s Day event

Join the Seattle Times dating team for this virtual event before Valentine’s Day on February 12th. Watch the fun or join in and showcase to your friend! (Nancy Zhang / YouShouldDatePPT)

Did this single friend make it through months of quarantine alone? Propose them virtually for a (socially distant, COVID-19 safe, and / or virtual) date, or just hang out and watch other people showcase their friends! You can find more information about our virtual event on February 12th here: st.news/datingppt

Here is the monthly schedule of the Seattle Dating Scene:

• First week: Dating Question of the Month – Readers respond to a dating question we asked.
• Second week: “Happy anniversary, tell us your story” – Is there an anniversary this month? Tell us in less than 500 words how you met your significant other and send us your story and a photo.
• Third week: “Best Date / Worst Date” – Tell us an anecdote about your best or worst date in less than 250 words.
• Fourth week: “Ask Marina” – Marina Resto, who runs the lively Instagram account @Dating_in_Seattle, answers reader questions about dating – or finds a special guest to answer those she can’t answer!