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Looking for love in all the right places
by Elissa Large

Editor’s note. We ran this essay last March, but with Valentines Day approaching and an update to the ending, we thought we’d run it again.

Who could have thought how thoroughly my life would change?

Just over three years ago I made the decision to move to a place I couldn’t even locate on a map if you’d asked me. At 43 I was just ready for a change. So, although content with myself and life in general I moved to Holdrege, Nebraska, based on little more than looking at a few places on the computer. And although the town, church and people won my heart, still something was missing. I’d never gotten over that childhood dream of finding Mr. Right.

With one failed marriage and multiple dates over the years I had become content with the idea of living the rest of my life alone. I had my love of aviation and my new friends. Still the dream of Mr. Right was ever-present, so I decided to give Internet dating a try. I put an ad on an Internet dating site, and although I corresponded with several fine men, no spark occurred. Disenchanted, I turned the ad off.

Then with only two weeks to go before the subscription was to expire, my thrifty side took over and I realized I had paid for it might as well see what may be there. The next day there was a match: a widowed farmer living in Imperial.

An introduction to farming.

Since I knew nothing at all about farming I figured it couldn’t hurt to become educated in what really makes Nebraska what she is, so I replied. After a few weeks of exchanging emails, I realized this man had a love of farming, the earth and a zest for life one seldom encounters.

Corn harvest had just started and I was interested in how a modern harvest worked. My new friend Dale advised me it wasn’t something he could easily explain in an email, so we decided to meet. I flew my plane up to Imperial and checked into the Balcony House Bed and Breakfast. Dale was driving the semi hauling corn, so a large black truck and a very scruffy man came to pick me up. (Oh well so much for looks, I thought.) I hopped into the cab and spent the next eight hours being fully educated on corn harvest. My education was rounded out by rides in the grain cart and semi, and the night was finished off with a ride in the huge Case combine. I discovered while riding in that large machine that cutting corn while the sun set was more than just beautiful. I also discovered the scruffy man who’d picked me up was highly educated and his love and enthusiasm for farming and the land were rubbing off on me.

A second look.

We ended our first date with a handshake as he dropped me off at my B&B, with a plan that he would join me for breakfast and drive me to the airport. The next morning as I dressed and waited in my room, I noticed a red truck pull up and then I saw a fine looking man get out. My first thought was, “Dale is kind of scruffy but this man is one looker!” As he approached the porch, my admiring glance changed to one of amazement. That handsome man was none other than Dale! Wow did he clean up nicely!

Since that first meeting there have been many others and my farming education has gone through a full season and then some. Dale and I have graduated from friends to romance and only time and God know the final destination.

I came here and fell in love with the land and now my heart is connected to a man of this land. Is he the Mr. Right of my dreams? Time will tell. And I can wait to find out.

The rest of the story.

Elisa (formerly Tyson) wrote us recently:

“Dale and I were married on December 20 in Holdrege,” she said. “Most of my immediate family members flew in from California and were given tours of the farm in Imperial. Our seventeen-below-zero weather was a bit much for the California family, especially when they also had to fight a snowstorm on the drive from the Denver airport to Imperial.

“A simple wedding ceremony with about 110 people was followed by a lunch in the Church Fellowship hall. By 4:00 pm., Dale and I were on our way to Cambridge, where we spent our wedding night in the Cambridge B&B.  The honeymoon will be in March with a cruise to the Southern Caribbean.

No longer a Correctional Officer, I spend my time working around the farm, taking care of my husband, the dogs, cats and tending to household chores. After March I plan on taking some online college courses and possibly enhancing my writing skills. My airplane has made the move to Imperial and is snug in his new Hanger. I look forward to sharing the gift of flight with more children come spring.”

Elissa Large is a pilot, former law enforcement officer and freelance author living in Holdrege, Nebraska.

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