WKTV is publishing love stories from our readers leading up to Valentine’s Day. 4 winners will receive a $25 gift card from Eastern Floral. If you would like to enter your love story, email mike.dewitt@wktv.org.

By: Anja Smith

Our love story began much earlier for one of us than for the other. I grew up in a small old town in Germany and after graduating high school I started my nursing training. I went to live in a bigger city not too far away from my home town. I had my own apartment and made friends quickly.

On one of those weekends I went out with my then boyfriend to a club where there were pool tables, young people and music we liked. Undetected by me, there was also a young American service man who took notice of me. He did not approach me and we didn’t speak a word. He was processing out of Germany and was set to go back to the US within the following 2 months.

The following day, he approached his superior with the request to extend his time in Germany for 1 year. His request was granted and he started looking for me. He did not have a name to look for, no phone number, nothing. He just knew he had to find me.

Eight months later I was without a boyfriend and had time to spare. A friend of mine gave me a call and asked if I wanted to go out with her and her husband on a Saturday night. They wanted to play some pool at a local club. Since I had no plans, and I like playing pool, I agreed and they picked me up that evening.

As we approached the club, my friend asked me to go ahead and go inside, as they wanted to grab something to eat first. They asked me to tell a friend of theirs that they would be a little late, but they surly would come in just a few minutes. I agreed after they gave me the friends name and I made my way into the club.

This was a very small club, with only 2 pool tables, and I was standing in the doorway, between the music changing to a new song, I just shouted if there was a Richard Smith somewhere. One young man shouted, “Yes!!!” He turned around, staring at me. I let him know what my friends had told me, that they would be there shortly. As I turned around to sit down on a chair Richard asked me if I wanted to play pool. We did and we had a great night.

This young man was the same from 8 months earlier, extending his time in a foreign country in order to find the girl of his dreams! We didn’t know we had mutual friends, and he was in shock when this girl appeared in the club asking for him by his name!

We started dating a few days later and he asked me to marry him after 2 weeks knowing each other.

We married one year later in Denmark, had 2 children in Germany and 2 more after we moved to the USA. Last year we celebrated our 25th Anniversary and are looking towards the next 25!