A while back, we asked for questions you wanted us to answer.
We seem to move slowly these days so we are just now starting the You Ask, We Answer series.
I wanted to know how you both met and fell in love?
According to Lana:
In 1994, I was a freshman and Dave was a sophomore at LeTourneau University in Longview, TX. I was 18 and Dave was 19. We were babies!
We were in the same Biology class. I sat in the front row, Dave in the back row. That semester, Dave’s best friend from New York attended LeTourneau. Best Friend only went to LeTourneau one semester but God had a VERY specific purpose for him being there!
Best Friend was interested in a good friend of mine. Best Friend figured that if he could get Dave and me together, he might have a chance with my friend (maybe a double date?). So, Best Friend told Dave that the biology girl was interested in him and then told my friend that Dave was interested in me. (Oh my gosh, this sounds so junior high! Note from Dave: It was!)
Dave was really cute so I was flattered but thought he must be really immature to send his friend to tell my friend that he liked me (I’m mortified. We really weren’t this immature!). Dave thought I must be weird and that was the end of that.
Fast forward a few weeks and the washing machine in my dorm broke (Note from Dave: Uh huh. Surrrre it was.). I had to do laundry one Saturday morning, so I walked to the guys laundromat to do my laundry. I was out of clean clothes so I wore a blue flannel shirt, black sweatpants and leather loafers. (Why oh why did I wear that mess???) I sat in the laundromat and studied while I waited for my clothes to wash. I was busy studying when Dave walked in.
I remember Dave saying hi and asking if I was studying biology. Nope, not biology. He said bye and walked out. Dave remembers asking if he could call me but I don’t remember that. He now says that he felt like he had to say hi to me since I was the girl who was interested in him. (This is sounding worse and worse!)
I found out later that the day we first met in the laundromat was Dave’s birthday, October 15th.
A few days later Dave did call me. He asked if I would help him with biology.
Over the next few months, we talked on the phone and became friends. We started dating 7 months later. We got married 3 1/2 years later, August 1, 1998.
I specifically remember the incident that really made me fall in love with Dave. We were in the cafeteria when a food fight erupted. (Yes, we were in COLLEGE!) Food was flying and a friend of mine got hit with ice cream. Dave reached over and wiped off her arm with his sleeve. I remember thinking that was the sweetest thing ever.
Oh, and my friend never went out with Best Friend. She married someone else before graduating from LeTourneau!
Now for the real version (according to Dave):
Most of Biology Girl’s version is true. My friend did try to hook up Lana and me. But by that time, Lana had already fallen in love with me because it was love at first sight. I promise; it’s true! My friend told me so.
We did officially meet in a laundromat and it was on my birthday. But the actual sequence of events isn’t quite as Lana portrayed it above. You see, while Lana claims that the girls’ washing machine was “broken”, she had been stalking me for almost two months. She knew that I hadn’t washed my clothes in nearly a month. So she strategically placed herself right where she knew I’d be that fateful Saturday morning. I walked into the laundromat and, wouldn’t ya know it, Lana was the only person there. Coincidence? I think not.
I did call Lana the next week and did ask her to help me with biology. What can I say? She was (and still is) really smart and I needed (and still need) some help. The fact that she was also cute was an added bonus.
I’m not sure there was a point in time when I “fell in love” with Lana. It was definitely more of gradual thing for me. In December 1994, I received a letter from Lana while I was home for Christmas break. She shared several things in that letter that must have been hard to write. I appreciated that she would share them with me and it opened my heart to see that there might be something more to this relationship. As we continued hanging out, going for walks and talking during the next semester, I realized that I really liked Lana. Toward the end of that school year, I asked Lana if she would be my girlfriend. She said, “I guess so.” I guess so? What does that mean? Apparently, it meant yes. Note from Lana: I meant YES!
Here is a picture from 1995 that Lana’s little brother, Micah, took of us. (Micah was 5 years old!)
What cute kids HAHA!! I like Dave’s version. Lana, you preditor, poor Dave never had a chance
) Good thing huh Dave? Hope you all have a great day. God bless. In Christ, Joe
I don’t think I’ve ever posted a comment before, but thank you for posting that! I love reading about how couples met each other. Great to hear it from both sides.
I could picture the whole courtship. What a delight. I have a desire to write Christian Romance. I think I’ve found my story. Of course, I’ll change the names to protect the innocent. (do you think Davis and Lena would be subtle enough?) You two and your family are such wonderful inspirations. Thanks for sharing this wonderful event. I’m still available for adoption….
srsly…LOVE both versions.
That is too cute! I bet it was fun to walk down memory lane. Thanks for sharing your love story.
You two are simply adorable.
Debbie
What a great story!
Awww….thanks for sharing!
How cute! Thanks for sharing! It was good to hear both versions, but Lana stalking Dave? I can’t see it!
All I can say is that Karen and I were pretty sure you were in love and that things would last a long time. Considering you survived your first trip together with the family to Winnipeg (what a family “disater”) you were either gonna figure out fast it would not work, or learn to accept it all!
Hey Wes, I get the first and second Winnipeg trip mixed up. Was the first one when we went to that freezing cold outdoor lights park? You and Karen were in an apartment. We all stayed at someone else’s house. Oh, and I gave you and Karen an eagle picture with a Bible verse with the wrong reference, LOL!
The second trip was with the whole family and you were in your house. That was the trip with Grandma Brain. She never stopped talking about the ride home with all the dogs.
The drives back to New York were VERY memorable!!!
This picture reminds me of the time we went to Watkins Glen and someone, watching you both pose for a picture, said the two of you looked like you could be in a toothpaste commercial!!
I have loved Lana from the start and thank God often for David choosing a wife who loved his mother!! All those years of indoctrination paid off!!
Over the years I have truly come to admire and appreciate our own “steel magnolia”!!!
And, Wes — that trip to Manitoba was a BONDING time (disaster???? – never!!) -of course it made Lana want to be a part of our family!!!
Joe, thanks for the support. We men need to stick together!
Jane, becky, Debbie, Ange and Nicki, thanks. Glad you like it!
Betty, you can call us anything you want. Just send the royalty checks in care of “Dave and Lana”. Seriously, it’s good to be used by God and we’re glad to be inspirations. You should write a good Christian Romance.
Rikki, I know, I know. I could hardly believe it myself!
Wes©, Lana and NY Grandma, the trips to Winnipeg were crazy…in a good sort of way.
Lana/Dave
Your Dad showed me this story about the 2 of you meeting at Letourneob before he asked me to marry him! He has it ready to frame.
Grandma in New York, Yes, it sure is great when a daughter-in-law loves her mother-in-law and mother-in law loves her daughter-in-law. That is why we both have daughters named Ruth, isn’t it? Lana’s Nana loved me and I really appreciated her loving acceptance of me.
Lana and friends who prayed for Lana’s Dad, Thank you for praying! OUR LORD God is AMAZING! In spite of 2 doctors and the blood results saying “you most
likely have cancer”, the tissue biopsy results showed NO cancer. We serve an AWESOME God, don’t we?
Dad/Nancy
Nancy, thanks for the update. Yes, we serve an awesome God…awesome when the results show no cancer, just as awesome when they do show cancer.