Melanie Samuelson and Leonard Johnson 

May 29, 2004                           

 

 

 

welcome

bride and groom

our story

proposal

wedding events

bridal party

ceremony

reception

calendar of events

directions

accommodations

local activities

gift registry

contacts

rsvp

guestbook

honeymoon

the newlyweds

photo album

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melanie and I met on Saturday, June 9, 2001 and have been a couple ever since.  I called Melanie a few days after our initial introduction as I told her I would, so that we could continue our conversation with each other.  I remember being very anxious prior to making that first call, dialing...stopping, redialing.  I was a little nervous about that call, but I was also very excited and happy to again have the chance to talk more with Melanie.  I finally made the phone call and we talked for over an hour.  Melanie began telling me about her nieces Haylie and Mckenzie and I remember then explaining to her that I also had nieces named Hailey and Mackenzie as well.  What a nice surprise...we both had sisters who had daughters with the same names.  We laughed about that and many other things during that first phone conversation.  In ending our conversation, we planned on talking more about the planning of our first date.  When me and Mel first met, she had a bad cold.  I remember it took some time before we actually went on our first date, but Mel was definitely worth waiting for.

When Melanie was feeling better we set a dinner date for a Thursday night.  This was a night  I also played softball with a group of friends during the summer.  That week I had a 6:00pm game, so I told Mel I could definitely make dinner that night.  I remember during the game, I couldn't wait for it to be over.  I had a quick beer with the guys, but told them I had to leave as I had an important dinner date set for that night.  The guys were pretty inquisitive about who I was going on the date with, but I was not going to provide them any information.  They all were having fun giving me grief about leaving to go on a date, I just laughed and left.

I headed for home to shower and change for my date with Mel.  I then drove to Melanie's apartment in Kenwood and picked her up, she looked great.  As we were heading for dinner, my cell phone rang.  I knew that it would be one of the guys checking in, I told Mel I probably shouldn't answer the phone.  Mel though encouraged me to answer the phone, and so I reluctantly answered my cell phone as we were heading down Mesabi Avenue.  It was "Doogie," one of my friends, he didn't want to speak with me, he wanted to speak to Mel.  She said sure.  It was a nice icebreaker for our date as I could tell he was having fun with kidding her and she back with him.  

We decided our first official date would be a casual dinner date so we could continue to learn more about each other.  We had decided on the Grandmas restaurant in Canal Park for dinner.  We split an appetizer and sandwich and conversed for several hours.  I felt very relaxed and at ease in Mel's company.

 

Since that first summer of dating, we've been inseparable.  When we were deciding the location of our wedding, it seemed only natural to get married on the shore of  Lake Superior where we had our first date and also where Mel had accepted to be my life partner.  Melanie is my best friend and I look forward to spending my life with her.