How Love At Second Sight Led To 55 Years Of Marriage

For this month's Love In A Small Town feature, we asked Patch readers to tell us the story behind their romantic chance encounters. This is Denis Jensen's story:

Linda and I have been married for 55 years, but it never would have happened if it hadn’t been for a chance encounter. We had been going together during our college years in Omaha in the late 1950s and early 60s, but Linda’s parents weren’t satisfied with me as a marital prospect for their daughter. They applied pressure to Linda and broke us up.

That summer, they sent Linda on a cross country trip with her grandmother so I wouldn’t be able to contact her. I suffered through the summer with a broken heart and had about given up on Linda. I was working at an engineering firm, but that fall, I decided to take some night classes to continue working on my degree. I took off from work during the afternoon to register at the university, and you can imagine my surprise when I walked toward the administration building and saw Linda standing on the steps.

It was love at second sight, and from then on we fought the good battle with Linda’s parents and eventually married on November 21, 1962. I think that one reason our marriage has worked so well is that we had to fight hard to make it happen.

—Denis Jensen

See all Patch "chance encounters" here.

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to help you give Mom the best Mother's Day gift ever. Write her a heartfelt letter to tell her how much she means to you, email it to locallove@patch.com and we'll feature it in your town's newsfeed on Mother's Day. Get more details here.

Image Credit: Denis Jensen