Noel Foster and Greg Gorden are getting married March 20. They have chosen the Little Flock Church on Highway 2 as the location, partly because Marilyn and Richard Gorden of Plano, Greg's parents, have been part of taking care of the site for years and partly because the setting is a romantic one. Noel and Greg believe in romance and they certainly believe in love at first sight.
Noel moved to Iowa from Quincy, Ill. She came to Centerville to see about a job offered at Indian Hills Community College where she now works as an instructor/academic advisor.
"You can call me the new Bill Matkovich," she explained.
She started working at the college in October 2007 but didn't move into Centerville until last June.
"On May 1, I was here looking for a car wash and couldn't find one. I saw Greg in his yard and asked him where one was. Then while washing my car, my heart was beating out of my chest and I already thought he was wonderful," Noel said.
Later, she drove back by and said thank you. She said she felt like she already knew him, like he was very familiar to her. He told her later he was feeling the same way.
"The next day at Hy-Vee he was heading down the frozen food aisle and I was heading for the pharmacy and our carts collided. I said, 'It's you!' and he said, 'It's you!' I told him I didn't live here yet but worked at the college. In the parking lot, he swung by and asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him and some friends," Noel said, "But I told him I couldn't."
The next day, Noel received an email at her office from Greg. She said it startled her because she hadn't given her address to him, but learned later you can search for emails on the IHCC Web site. He asked her to dinner again and she said no.
"I didn't know him and I just didn't think I should go out with him," she said.
But she knew he had a boat at the lake and after a storm broke up the boat ramp over Memorial weekend, she called to see if his boat was okay. This time when he asked her out, she accepted.
"We went to the Continental. I was going to shake his hand but he hugged me instead. His mom came by, then his sister, then his dad and he sat down with us. It was all very comfortable and I was really smitten with this guy but I was still trying to resist him. I didn't know anything about him," Noel said.
I asked some people about him, including Lottie Wilson. I told her he's either the nicest or the best actor and she said he's the nicest. So he and I became good friends. We'd talk on the phone for hours. We even talked about religion and argued about politics. We are at opposite ends on politics but at least we aren't apathetic about it."
She added that they have a lot in common, even their thinking. They found out they have the same password for their voicemail and when she called him to see if he wanted lasagna for dinner, he said he had just picked some up.
During the first week of January they decided they would get married. Greg bought tickets to Mexico and then they made an offer on a house. And it was accepted.
Greg told his parents about the house and his dad asked if that meant they were getting married and Greg answered, "Yes!" They then decided they would get married at the Little Flock Church instead of in Mexico and will take the trip to Mexico as a honeymoon.
"I am so happy because he is such a cute boy and I am marrying into a wonderful family. And Greg's daughter is going to have a baby soon, so I tell everyone I'm getting married and becoming a grandma!"
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Noel Foster and Greg Gorden will marry March 20 at the Little Flock Church.
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Love at first sight
(This story came in too late to be part of the Daily Iowegian's Valentine stories that were published in February. However, it is further proof that Cupid keeps busy with his arrows and that grocery stores can sometimes play a part.)
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