Couple mark 61-year anniversary of chance Christmas encounter on a Greyhound bus

The unlikely meeting occurred on a Greyhound journey from Olympia to Seattle, Washington, on Christmas Day 1962

Ruth and Andy Weller mark the 61-year anniversary of their chance Christmas encounter on a Greyhound bus (Ruther Weller/ CNN Travel)

On Christmas Day 1962, Ruth Underwood fell asleep on the shoulder of a stranger on the bus. Now they have been married for 60 years.

The chance encounter occurred on a Greyhound journey from Olympia to Seattle, Washington, while then-18-year-old Ruth was travelling back from her parents’ house after the holidays.

Then-21-year-old Andy Weller was surprised to find the young woman asleep on his shoulder, but had not wanted to be rude and wake her up.

“I looked at her because I saw her beautiful red hair,” he told CNN Travel exactly 61 years later, on Christmas Day 2023.

Andy had been heading to the military base in Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was stationed. “It took me a long time to even get up the gumption because I was shy,” he recalled.

He eventually plucked up the courage to nudge her awake and the pair talked for the remainder of the journey, deciding to exchange addresses so they could stay in contact afterwards.

However, through their correspondence, Andy discovered that Ruth was already engaged to a man – also in the military – whom she had known since childhood.

Ruth told CNN Travel that although she had still intended to marry the man, she had not been put off giving Andy her address so they could stay in touch.

Ruth and Andy Weller in 1963 (Ruther Weller/ CNN Travel)

But Andy was less sure about the situation. “I didn’t know where I fit in,” he said. “I wrote her off.”

All that changed when Ruth’s fiance suddenly broke up with her. Not wanting to go through the rigmarole of dating in Seattle, Ruth wrote a letter to Andy and they arranged to meet up again – Andy eventually offered to help her move back to Olympia.

“We corresponded for quite a while,” Ruth told CNN Travel. “We always looked forward to the letters. We shared the things we enjoyed doing and shared the goals we were trying to achieve.”

When they met in person, Andy jokingly asked Ruth what she was doing on 22 August.

“How should I know?” said Ruth. “Why?”

“Well, I thought we could get married that day,” said Andy. Ruth just laughed.

The pair began to spend more and more time together, and continued to keep up their correspondence. In July 1963, Ruth handed Andy an envelope. It was a wedding invitation.

“I was wondering if she was marrying the other guy,” he told CNN Travel, referring to Ruth’s ex-fiancé.

“I started reading it. And of course, I was kind of distraught at the moment – until I got down to the part that said that she was marrying me.”

The pair were married a month later, on 22 August – as Andy had suggested the second time they met.

The young couple realised that they had “very different personalities, but a similar way of looking at the world and felt like a team from the beginning. It was “magic”, Ruth said.

Christmas 1963, the anniversary of their meeting, the couple celebrated by going to the 88 cent store together, to do their holiday shopping.

“We were just married and things were tight,” Andy told CNN Travel.

Ruth and Andy, now 79 and 82 respectively, met by chance on a bus on Christmas Day 1962 (Ruther Weller/ CNN Travel)

Their daughter Joanne, was born with Maffuci syndrome, a rare bone disorder, and needed a lot of extra care when she was young, but grew up to be “a very brilliant young woman”, and worked as a 911 dispatcher for several years.

Joanne sadly passed away a few years ago.

Speaking to CNN Travel, Ruth said: “We’ve been through things like that – that a lot of other people don’t have to face and don’t have to figure out how to get through. It is true that I believe that it’s made us stronger in one another.”

The key, she said, is “when you find the one that’s the right one, hang on tight.”

“Yes, you have to go through hard times. But remember, you go through good times, too. And those are the ones that you hold on to and that you keep close to you. And you remember. Those are the things that keep you going.”

She added: “It is a little unusual to meet someone on a Greyhound bus that you’ve never met before and make a connection. Actually it’s a miracle that would happen, even – two total strangers come together and end up being married to one another. And being married for as long as we have.”

In August, Ruth, who is now 79, and Andy, who is 82, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary – though Christmas Day is just as special to them.

“Every Christmas Day we reminisce,” Ruth said. “We look across the table and know what the other’s thinking.”

The pair now have four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

“I love being alive and seeing all our grandchildren growing up and their families, and their great-grandchildren,” Andy told CNN Travel.

“It’s absolutely wonderful,” added Ruth. “Their hugs are just so important to us, especially at this age.