Valentine Stories: How we met

The Herald asked our readers about how they met their partners. Here are some their stories:

Nicholas and Kimberly Pontrelli

He ‘reeled’ her in

I actually met my husband at a bar through a good friend of mine. I would go once a week to watch him play darts against other teams. When Nick noticed me, he began asking me out every time he saw me.
I had decided that his personality wasn't for me — he was always the loudest one in the room, always grabbing for attention. I must have said no to him for months. Finally, he told me that if I went on a date with him and didn't like him after that date, he would never bother me again, so I went on that date just to get rid of him.
We went to see the movie "My Cousin Vinny" and he was a different person — he was soft spoken, sweet and so, so funny. After dating for five years, we were engaged.
We’ve been happily married for 16 years and have a 13-year-old son. Nick makes me laugh every single day, and even jokes that he "reeled me in" with that first date. He is truly my Valentine every single day of the year.

Nicholas and Kimberly Pontrelli
Lynbrook

Diana and Mark Harrison

Tennis, then love

In 1981, Mark Harrison was tennis pro from Australia, working at the Atlantic Beach Tennis Center. I was a massage therapist from East Rockaway, living in Oceanside.
A client of mine and a student of Mark's set us up on a blind date, which was to a tennis function at the ABTC. Mark brought me a pair of tennis shoes (sneakers) because I didn't have a pair. I met all his friends and roommates that first date, and still agreed to a second date! He told his family I had beautiful blue eyes (they are dark brown), but still, I married him seven-and-a-half months after that first date. That was 33 years — and two children — ago.

Diana Harrison
Bay Park

Hopping over the pond

Allen was looking to backpack across the U.S. and thought it’d be a good idea to maybe meet some people online so he’d have some sort of contacts once he was over here. He lived in the U.K.
We met online, and started chatting in July 2008, and he decided to come over for Christmas that year … we both traveled back and forth for the next two years. Living in the UK he had a lot more holiday time than we get so he was able to come over for 2 weeks at a time or even the entire summer whereas I was lucky to get a week or 10 days in England.
He came over to stay in June of 2010 and we were married that August. He received is permanent resident status in December of 2011. He is now waiting for his new green card and then he will begin the process of getting his U.S. citizenship.

We are expecting our first child in June.

And sorry to say he never went backpacking I guess I kind of got in the way of that one.

Nicole Ball
East Rockaway