Give from the Heart Day
There are many married couples who met their spouses as students here, and countless others whose journey at Northwestern greatly influenced the direction of their lives and their faith. Celebrate today in a unique way and consider making a special gift from your heart to Northwestern . When you log into the giving page, select Northwestern Fund. If you prefer to phone in your gift, please call 800-692-4020, ext. 5226. they Met their spouses at NorthwesternDuring Give from the Heart Day, we asked couples who met at Northwestern to share their stories. Here are some of the tales of romance that we received:
Debbie (Elliott '83) and Brian ('85) TaubertBrian writes: Although Debbie and I knew who each other our freshman year (1980), it was actually the fall of our second year that I remember walking from Riley Hall to Nazareth and seeing Debbie for the first time! I definitely needed to get to know her!. Fortunately for me Deb's roommate Judy Bergstrom broke the Ice for me on the "Roommate Roulette" night a few weeks later. I knew Deb roomed with Judy and when she asked me if I was free that weekend to take out her roommate It took me no time to say ...SURE!. Then I asked as if I wasn't sure if Debbie Elliott was her roommate...that was the break I had been hoping for! Before my dad’s green Oldsmobile had left the campus gates that night for what would become our favorite restaurant, Old Mexico, I asked Debbie out on a second date! Northwestern classes and activities were so much fun when Deb was involved. We also worked together with the youth at Grace Church Roseville and four years later, in April of 1985, I asked Deb to be my wife. We have been blessed with six beautiful daughters and four handsome sons. I am thankful to God for His special gift to me in Debbie. Northwestern will always be a special place for us! Alicia (Beedle '09) & Travis ('02) du’MonceauxAlicia writes: Travis and I were both involved in athletics at Northwestern College. We both experienced knee injuries, Travis in football and me in basketball, and met through some mutual friends who thought we could relate to one another through this difficult time. We began recovering together by running around the track in the HPEC and icing in the training room together. A friendship formed quickly and we enjoyed our time together. We continued this for about a month and a half and then Travis asked me out on our first date on Valentine's Day in 2001. We have been together ever since and have shared 7.5 wonderful years of marriage and have three sons Owen (6), Lawson (3) and Landon (3). We are still active members of the Northwestern College community as I am the head softball coach here and our children love to come and cheer on the Eagles in every sport! Dave Hieb and Sara Mortensen still like to kid us about our budding romance made in the training room when we are seen in there together. Pat & John Schroeder ('55)Pat writes: If I had known, when I was giving my testimony before the Child Evangelism group, that a young man in the audience was at that very moment choosing me to be his wife, I could never have waited through those next months until I would meet him. However, there was a problem—I was visiting my brother Pete at Northwestern College and this young man assumed that I was Pete’s girlfriend, so he spent the summer plotting how he could get rid of his competition. In the fall, the first day of my freshman year, John, a sophomore, was the leader of the Africa Prayer Band which I attended. That evening he and Pete came to my table at dinner and when they left, John asked Pete if that was his girlfriend. Pete’s answer, “No. That’s my little sister” freed him up and he returned to my table to date me for Friday night—a moonlight cruise on the Mississippi, no less! He couldn’t just wait, though. During the week he sat with me in chapel and invited me to go for a ride with his friends. He was definitely interested and I knew that date was going to be a special one! There were over a hundred people on that church outing, but we were oblivious to anything else going on as we got acquainted. I knew that he loved me and that it would be very easy to learn to love him—which took place in the weeks ahead. A year and a half later we were engaged and that August were married, three semesters before our graduation in 1955 Ann and Russ Cowenhoven ('88)
That spring Russ was chosen as Rookie of the Year for baseball, and I was chosen as Rookie of the Year for softball. We dated for two years and were married the summer before our Senior year. Both roommates were in our wedding. We have been married for 24 years and have ten children (5 biological and 5 adopted). And yes, they too love to play ball. Our eldest son attended Northwestern two years ago, and met his fiance there. They will be married this coming July. Our second son will begin attending there this coming fall. Our Northwestern years brought spiritual depth, preparation for ministry, direction, and a godly spouse. We want to give that opportunity to our children. Tammy (Morgan '77) & Rick ('79) Nodland
A week later I was asked to go for ice cream with the 'roommate I didn't know', his name: Rick Nodland. A year after that, we were engaged. Valentines Day is always special to that boy from the Edelweiss building and me! If he hadn't asked for a card...well, who knows?! We married on August 5, 1978 at the Nazareth Chapel at Northwestern College and lived happily ever after. On August 7, 2004 our daughter married her sweetheart at Northwestern in the chapel; we think that Northwestern has a pretty nice tradition of love in our family! Kathleen (Schoff '65) and James ('64) YostKathleen writes: Back in 1962 Jim and I met one evening at the front reception desk just inside the Northwestern front doors across from Loring Park. It was a Sadie Hawkins night and I was not interested in going to the event, so I offered to work the front desk and switchboard. Jim, in the meantime, was working on second floor in the science lab, where he was an assistant. He just stopped to chat with me when he came down the stairs from work and we spent an hour or two talking. It wasn't love at first sight, only a mutual enjoyment. It was months later before we began to date and two years later before we were in love, and three years later when we were married by Jim's friend and professor of Bible and philosophy, in Iowa on a wintry night. Now 47 years later we are still grateful for our years at Northwestern, for each other, all the friendships we made, and for all the terrific opportunities of service we have had since that time working with Wycliffe in the Amazon jungles and later doing mission consultant work. Angela (Myers '08) and Nate ("08) Miller
After graduating, Nate went on to seminary, and I began looking for teaching jobs. One day, our friends Lindsay Modrow and Ellen Warneke were having an ice cream sundae party. I went and saw Nate there. I invited him to play frisbee with my church friends and was surprised when he started coming regularly. Nate also offered to give me a ride to a different frisbee game. We found out that we had a lot in common like growing up in Illinois, North Dakota, and Minnesota. We had also gone to Romania the same summer on a missions trip. Right away, I realized that my preconceptions of Nate weren't quite accurate: he was not only mischievous, but he also had a heart for the Lord and for sharing the gospel with students. We started dating that summer. The more I got to know Nate, the more I liked him. The fall began too quickly that year with Nate working in seminary and a youth group and me starting my first year of teaching. Almost exactly a year after we started dating, Nate proposed and I joyfully accepted. We were married on February 13, 2010, and we're coming up on our one-year anniversary this week. |
This year, Valentine’s Day wasn’t just about hearts and flowers! Give from the Heart Day meant February 14 was also a day to remember one of the special places in your heart: Northwestern College!
Ann writes: Russ and I met at Northwestern our freshman year. We met through our roommates, but not because they were trying to set us up. In fact quite the opposite was true: Russ' roommate liked me and my roommate liked Russ. We knew of each other by hearing stories from them. I used to refer to him as "that cow kid" because I could never remember his entire last name (Couwenhoven). Little did I know that unpronounceable name would be mine one day. After several months of this, we found ourselves eating lunch together with a large group. As I sat next to my roommate and across the table from Russ, he suddenly saw me with different eyes and said to himself "she's cute". Later that week I saw him in the library with his roommate and for the first time noticed him through my eyes rather than my roommates eyes. I said to myself "he's cute." I didn't dare act on my thoughts for fear of hurting my friend. However, suddenly he was showing up everywhere I was, and we both realized how much we enjoyed each other's company. The clincher for me was watching him play baseball for the Eagles in the Metrodome. I was hooked. I had a long talk with my roommate and she was great about it. So great, we asked to borrow her car for our first date; an ice cream cone at McDonald's just up Snelling.
Tammy writes: On Valentines Day of 1977 I handed out kid -sized Disney character valentines to my pals on campus. There were girls and guys that received cards from me. The 15th of February there came a knock on my door. The roommate of three guy pals who had gotten valentines from me asked, "Why didn't you give me a valentine card?" Baffled, I said, "Because I don't know you..."
Angela writes: Nate and I probably met during the first or second week of our freshmen year playing frisbee together on Maranatha lawn. I remember that he could catch almost anything, soon making a name for himself in frisbee. Nate had a lot of fun during college, playing frisbee daily, cheering as a Superfan at football games, and working as a Red Shirt. I had fun too, but I was very focused on academics, my job at ACR, and the track team. Nate and I knew a lot of the same people, but we never really got to know each other.