Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, this is the most DARLING story and I couldn't resist posting it!

An inevitable love affair
Couple's Valentine's Day marriage came after unknowingly sharing a band class, a church and a town.

By Kathy Hanks
The Hutchinson News

Dottie Biays played the flute and Howard Gibson played the baritone in the 1950 Russell High School band.

But it wasn't until Valentine's Day 2003 that the two truly began making music together.

That's the day they married, after a whirlwind courtship that began on Thanksgiving Day 2002.

While their paths crossed in high school, they can't recall each other. Not even a band photo showing the two just a few seats apart can jog a memory.

"I was a senior and her brother and cousin were in my class," he said. "But she was a freshman. I never crossed elbows with her."

"He was responsible for setting up all the band chairs, he had to know each person in the band," she said, baffled that they didn't talk to each other in the small high school. "He chummed together with my brother."

Still, it took nearly 50 years, until 2002, for the two of them to come together again.

After high school, they both married and pursued careers.

Biays lived in Hutchinson for 20 years, raising a daughter, Diana (Hill) Kroeker. When her husband was ready to retire, they moved to Bella Vista, Ark.

He had been dead five years, and Biays, though lonely and dating occasionally, was pretty certain she would live the rest of her life alone.

But a mutual friend, Jean Morton Stone, also from Russell, kept after Gibson and Biays to meet each other.

They were both living in Bella Vista and attending the same church, but attended different services.

Gibson built up his courage to make the first call, after several months and several attempts. He'd usually pick up the phone and then lose his nerve.

"When I finally called, we talked for over an hour," he said. Then they agreed to meet at a big community Thanksgiving dinner.

She was 67 at the time, and he was 70, but they both felt like teenagers that day.

By Christmas, they were engaged. They decided to get married on Valentine's Day.

"We didn't mess around," he said smiling, leaning into his wife, sitting on the arm of her chair.

The minister, citing their age and experience, decided to forgo the usual couples counseling that precedes a marriage. If anything, could have offered him some pointers.

Together they were ready for some new adventures - selling their homes in Bella Vista and moving back to Russell. In January, they moved to Hutchinson.

They will celebrate their fifth anniversary by attending the Hutchinson Symphony on Valentine's Day. A bit of irony for certain because, after all, it was music that first brought them together.

Even if they didn't know it.