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Roy and nicole oswalt
Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt and his wife, Nicole, grew up in the same county where
their dads played softball together. Roy and Nicole played Little League
against each other. She was in the batter
’s box many times when Roy was on the mound and learned firsthand what a good
fastball looked like.
Said Nicole: “Our first actual meeting was at an MSU choral concert that both high schools
participated in. At later school functions we became great friends.
”
She added: “We both loved the outdoors and sports, so we had a lot in common. Also, our
families were alike
—both strong Christians. I could tell at a young age that he would be a good man,
hard working, responsible with good morals and values, and he
’s never let me down.”
The proposal: Roy was in Class A,
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Mid-West League in Battle Creek, Mich.. Nicole had just graduated from MSU and
had the summer off before beginning her first teaching job in August, so she
went to visit him. It was May 18, 1999, and they had been dating for seven
years when they went to dinner that night. Of course the answer was
“Yes!” when he surprised her with a ring.
On maintaining a happy union: “The key word here is maintaining,” says Nicole.
“It’s definitely not always smooth sailing in any marriage, but we have learned
through the years to always put God first and communicate with each other.
Also, take time for each other, especially after you have kids. It
’s not easy during baseball season, because we need good baby-sitters for our
girls, but we try to plan at least a couple of
‘date nights’ per month. We also enjoy doing things as a family, like fishing
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inside, he introduced me to Mimi, so I thought he was interested in her.”
What he didn’t know was that his best friend was interested in another girl who wasn’t at the library at that time. Even though Robert saw Mimi at the library a
couple of other times later, he made no attempt to get acquainted.
“I thought she was absolutely beautiful,” said Robert, “but I stuck to the rule: Don’t get interested in your friend’s love interests.”
“It wasn’t until an after-finals party that I noticed my friend spent the whole time
talking to this other girl and that Mimi was by herself. Finally, I figured it
out and Mimi and I ended up talking to each other.
”
He was smitten. In subsequent days, he would leave flowers on her car (which he
says he clipped from the University Gardens.)
“Besides being beautiful and stylish and witty and smart, she knew so much about
the world and how to have fun.
” He kept finding reasons to love her. “Mimi was down to earth, warm and affectionate and caring. She was non-assuming,
not pretentious. She must have seen something in me, but maybe the list was
shorter. I was a very
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dedicated graduate student, so maybe she thought I was really smart. I liked to
think I was charming and suave and handsome, but at least I knew that I had a
good sense of humor and could make her laugh.
”
They’d been dating for five years and Mimi’s mother said, “Why don’t you two kids get married?” Fortunately, she liked me, but Mimi couldn’t decide. One day, when Mimi complained that she was having trouble with her
bookkeeping again, Robert offered help.
“But you’ll have to marry the bookkeeper,” he said. They laughed and hugged and kissed and said, “Let’s get married!” and called her mom with the news.
Now, after 27 years, they’re still counting.
On keeping a happy union, he says: “The trick is to find out how many facets of love there really are. If you can
see only one facet to love, things won
’t last long. Like a diamond, the more facets in love, the more it sparkles. Even
during the busiest of days, you can find a little facet of love. Diamonds last
forever and so will love, if you polish it, and buying a few diamonds along the
way won
’t hurt.”
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