The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Love at first flight: Nebraska couple celebrates 30 years on airline where they first met
That three-hour flight turned into a first date in Phoenix. Salesia still has the note Jeffrey wrote her on a napkin, a poem complimenting her smile.
Jeffrey Larson and Salesia met by chance on a Southwest flight many years ago, with their connection beginning during a delayed trip that brought them together on a five-hour travel interruption.
The first encounter occurred in October 1996 when Jeffrey drove more than 400 miles from Minneapolis to Kansas City to catch a standby flight to visit Phoenix, after a suggestion to consider Omaha or Kansas City.
Their first contact happened on a three-hour open-seating Southwest flight, where Jeffrey aimed to sit next to Salesia, who he described as a “beautiful, cute little redhead.” A note written on a napkin and a subsequent first date in Phoenix helped spark their relationship.
A blizzard and travel twists led Jeffrey to remain with Salesia in her hometown, ultimately prompting him to move there six months later; within a year they were engaged, and a year after that they married. They now have six children and run a painting company.
Today, the couple marks their 30-year anniversary on the same airline that sparked their story, celebrating with another Southwest flight as a nod to how their lives began on that open-seating trip.