I decided to go to floral design school and planned to go to a school in Cleveland, Ohio. My Aunt Polly called and said, instead of Cleveland, why not Centerville, OH? It is close to me, and you could stay with us while in school. I looked into it and agreed. I became friends with the school owner (Ruth) and stayed in touch for many years after finishing school. I would occasionally go back and take refresher courses, etc. I saw Mark a few times since he did all of the bookwork for Ruth. However, we never really connected. One spring, I visited the school and purchased some hard goods for my shop with Ruth. We did this on occasion to save money through bulk purchasing. After the day at the shop, Ruth and I planned on going to dinner. She asked me if it would be okay to invite Mark. I said sure. As dinner time approached, Ruth told Mark and me that she did not feel well and could not go to dinner. She insisted that we both still go to dinner together. Ha-ha! We don't believe she was sick! We ended up going out that night and had a great time. We stayed in touch and started calling each other before long; we visited each other on the weekends. We had a long-distance relationship for a few years. I was either commuting to Waynesville, or Mark was commuting to Hopedale to help with a wedding before deciding to move in together. And as they say, the rest is history!