These 2 heartwarming Seattle tales of affection at first sight will make your day

This is the Seattle dating scene with readers’ thoughts and stories about how Seattle is today. 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 by Thursday December 17th to dating@seattletimes.com or Instagram direct message to @dating_in_seattle and Marina will be able to answer them 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.

Mike and Anna

“Our relationship began with giving a grade in class while we were studying at the University of Washington. In our final quarter, Ann and I started the final class required for our Masters degree. The group was small, as the upper school classes are often, with six or eight people. We started with the professor introducing herself, reviewing the curriculum, and then inviting us to say something about ourselves.

The first person to reach the podium was Ann, an attractive, brown-eyed girl from Minnesota. Fireworks went off as she spoke. With a church choir singing hosannas in my head, I realized that Ann was a high school teacher graduating from Gonzaga, where I went to school. Although it was a small campus, we had never met there.

I was the last to speak, and when I mentioned on the podium that I was a native Washingtonian, that I was working in West Seattle on Harbor Island, and that I was doing my bachelor’s thesis in Gonzaga. I waited a while and made eye contact with the Minnesota girl. Without my knowledge, one of Ann’s friends handed her a note: “You have a lot in common with this boy. Do it!’

After class, I played it cool. ‘So did you visit Gonzaga?’

‘Yes, I completed my apprenticeship there.’

“Well,” I said. ‘We have to meet up at some point and talk about GU over coffee.’

‘I would like that.’

This is how our relationship began. We were both dating other people at the time, so neither of us was looking for anyone. We started as friends. We met for coffee, then met for lunch, and then had dinner. Our other romantic interests took a back seat as we saw each other more and more.

We immediately felt comfortable between us. Deep conversations revealed similar perspectives: family is the focus of our lives, parallel career goals, enjoyment of the Pacific Northwest outdoors. Lots of things in common … but sharing made everything look fresh and new. We loved being around and, after all, that was all either of them wanted to do.

This spring, we sat on a park bench with takeaway food balanced on our knees as we watched the sun set over the city. I was silent for a moment, then turned to Ann and said, ‘I think I’m falling in love with you.’

Ann smiled and said the magical words, ‘I think I’m falling in love with you too.’ We married six months later.

Happily married in these 38 years, we look back on that senior year and laugh as Ann adds, ‘I wish I had kept this note!’ “

– Mike Nolan

Kerry and Barry

Kerry and Barry met by pure chance when she was buying a bed frame online. (Melissa Atle)

“It was a Sunday afternoon in June 2017. I had lived in Seattle for almost a year and only a month earlier I had taken a dating break. I knew I would meet someone when the time was right.

My mom called and said she was going to send me some of my belongings to Seattle so I knew I needed to get more storage space in my room quickly. I downloaded the Letgo phone app and started searching. I found a standard metal bed frame for $ 30. … I wrote to Stan the seller and asked when I could pick it up. He said he wasn’t home that day, but I misread it and said, ‘I can come in the next hour or so.’ He quickly said he was not home, ‘but let me see if my brother is there and can help you.’ It turned out that his brother only had 45 minutes before he had to leave. “Perfect, I’ll be there in the next 30,” I said. I jumped in the car and drove to the Eastlake address.

In retrospect, that wasn’t the safest idea, but spoiler alert: Everything worked out.

I knocked on the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Stan’s brother open the door. I thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s so hot, thank god I got changed and made up.’ I immediately started sweating. We made some embarrassing small talk. He fumbled around a bit, banged his head against the bed frame, his phone started ringing – it was completely chaotic.

After disassembling the bed frame, we put it in my car. I got Venmo Stan for the frame, he confirmed, we said goodbye and drove away.

I vividly remember driving down the street knowing that I would either marry this guy (Stan’s brother) or never see him again. It was either one or the other.

I immediately called one of my best friends in California to tell her what had happened and said I was disappointed that I hadn’t asked him for a drink. What did I have to lose? She encouraged me to write to Stan and ask if his brother was single. After drafting a few texts with her, I sent it! At the same time as I sent a message to Stan, his brother also texted him to say that he regretted not inviting me but didn’t mean to be scary. Only a few hours later I got a text message from ‘Brother Bettgestell’. He asked if I wanted to meet up for a drink before leaving town for a few days. We met at Bar Vacilando on Capitol Hill for six hours on a Tuesday! About halfway through the date, he went to the bathroom. He came back and said, ‘Wait, do you know my name?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s Barry! Do you know mine? ‘ Barry replied, ‘Yeah, it’s Kerry, my brother told me.’ It was all so perfect that we forgot to introduce ourselves.

It turned out that Barry was on a date break at the same time as I, knowing he would meet her when I did. It was like magic.

We were engaged in July 2018, got married on September 21, 2019 in my hometown, California, and now live happily with our pup Willow in Seattle. But new bed frame. “

– Kerry Rosellini

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 how you met your significant other in less than 500 words and send your story with 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!