June 8, 1996

Dear Ann Landers:

This is the story of how my mother and father met. They are too embarrassed to write, so I'm doing it for them.

My parents were both studying in a library at Harvard University 21 years ago. It was late, and there was a full moon. Each thought the library was empty. My mother, at one end of the library, went to the window and started to howl at the moon. My father, who was at the other end of the library, also started to howl at the moon. When my mother heard someone else howling, she walked to where the sound was coming from and saw my father howling.

Mom said she had seen him on the campus but he seemed sort of "nerdy." When she saw him howling, her opinion changed. She hoped he would ask her out, but he didn't, so she asked him. He was quite shy, but she was very fond of him and hung in there for five years. Finally, he proposed, and they got married.

In August, they'll celebrate their 16th anniversary. They are still very much in love - and they still hold hands and howl at full moons.

The story of how they met has always sounded romantic to me, and I thought others might enjoy hearing how the moon brought my parents together.

T.M., Belmont, Mass.

Dear Belmont:

Thanks for sharing the story of your "lunatic" parents. I'm happy to know they are still having a howling good time together.

Reprint permission granted by Ann Landers and Creators Syndicate