Alex Carson
Teenage Love
Dennis Vinar and Karen Lehmann were high school sweethearts from Browntown, Minnesota. People say opposites attract, and this was true with Dennis and Karen. Although they were completely different, they fell in love.
Dennis Vinar
Dennis was an all-American teen and a local football hero. He suffered an illness as a child, which set him back a few years, but he worked hard to reach his goals. When he wasn’t playing football, he was helping his father at this Buick salesman in St. Paul. Dennis was a good looking guy and caught the eye of most girls. The fact that he was a football star only added to his good looks.
Karen Lehmann
Karen was the opposite of Dennis, who was very outgoing. She was shy, quiet, and introverted. Karen cared more about her education than she did about being popular. Karen played the clarinet in the school band, and she was really good at it. She had a strong work ethic and was used to working hard to get what she wanted.
1958
Dennis and Karen met for the first time in 1958. Karen was 13-years-old at the time, and Dennis was 1958. Dennis was attracted to Karen, but he didn’t act on it at first. In 1960, Dennis asked Karen to the prom. All of the girls were jealous because they were hoping to be invited to the prom by Dennis. It was on prom night that the couple started to fall in love.
Getting Serious
Things between Dennis and Karen got serious quickly. Dennis couldn’t get enough of Karen. He would show up late for football practice every day so that he could walk Karen home from school. She didn’t mind because she loved all the attention. The two fell head over heels in love, and Dennis planned to ask her to marry him one day. He was preparing for their future together. Unfortunately, something got in the way.
Pregnancy
When Karen was just 15 years old, she found out that she was carrying Dennis’s baby. The couple were way too young to start a family and weren’t prepared for the news. Dennis wasn’t going to leave Karen alone, and he decided to propose. Karen’s parents weren’t happy with the situation at all. They weren’t going to let her get married so young. Since Karen and Dennis needed their parents’ permission to get married legally, it wasn’t going to happen. Instead of signing the papers to allow their daughter to marry Dennis, they sent her off to a maternity home.
Maternity Homes
Maternity homes were popular before the ’70. At the home, Karen could get free medical care, and her baby would be put up for adoption after it was born. Because Karen was leaving, it meant the end for the young couple. While at the home, Karen gave birth to a daughter who she named Denise. The baby was put up for adoption right after she was born, and Karen returned home.
Separate Ways
Karen and Dennis were still in love, but Karen’s mother refused to let her get married. After graduation, Karen started college at the University Of Minnesota, and Dennis joined the army. While Dennis was away, he often wrote letters to Karen, but her father hid them before Karen could see them. The distance and the lack of contact caused the relationship to die.
Time Passed
As time passed, Karen and Dennis moved on separately in their lives. Karen got her degree in interior design; she got married and had children. When Dennis finished her service in the army, he got married and had two children. Fifty years had passed without them ever communicating.
Thinking Of Karen
Dennis didn’t think much about Karen until he went to a party in October 2014. He and the other guests were playing games, and in one of the games, the question was, “If your doctor gave you 60 days to live, who would you want to take out to dinner and talk to?” Without hesitation, Dennis said, “Karen Lehmann.” A few days later, Dennis tried to find Karen on Facebook. He was successful and then looked her up on Linkedin to find out more about her life. Finally, he got up the nerve to call her.
Communication
Dennis called Karen at her office and left a message with her receptionist. Karen called him back right away, and the two often talked via email and on the phone for a couple of months. Finally, they decided to meet to see if the magic was still there. As soon as they saw each other, they realized that nothing had changed. Two days after meeting in person, the couple got married. They packed up and moved to Minnesota. There was just one last thing that they had to do to feel complete. They wanted to find Denise.
Joan
After reaching out to the adoption agency, they found out that their daughter’s name was now Jean Voxland, and she was a mother of three, living in Kenyon, Minnesota. She received a letter from her biological parents telling her they wanted to meet her. They set up a meeting at the adoption agency, and finally, the family was back together. Highschool lovers give away their baby, 50 years later they find out this. They had nothing to worry about. Jean understood why her parents had to give her up, and finally, they were all reunited.
