Couple hopes third time's the charm

Mon, Sep 29, 2008    to del.icio.us

Doug Bahl and Christine Houghtaling haven't had the best of luck with relationships.

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Doug has been married twice. His first wife died in childbirth and his second wife of 20 years died of cancer in 2004.

Christine's first marriage didn't work, she said. She was divorced a second time to her husband of 21 years.

Both in their early 50s, Doug and Christine say they are ready for a fresh start together.

After a whirlwind romance starting in May, Doug moved to Grand Haven from Iowa on Aug. 31. And on the morning of Sept. 19, the couple was dancing to Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" when Doug slipped a diamond ring on Christine's finger.

"When you're my age, you know what you want," she said. "It sounds corny, but it just was there — absolutely everything."

The couple could get married as soon as November, Doug said.

"We never expected to find this, this late in life," he said. "We've both been through it twice and we both think it's never been this easy with anyone else."

The couple met through a Christian online dating service, but found out later their families already had a connection: Doug's son, Andrew, and Christine's son, Kollan, played online video games together.

Christine said she was leery of meeting men online, and even ran a credit report on Doug before things got too serious.

"After you've gone through what I've gone through, you don't leave anything to chance anymore," she said.

Christine drove to Iowa this summer to meet Doug for the first time, and they've been seemingly inseparable ever since. He came to Grand Haven soon after for the Coast Guard Festival, and Christine headed back to the Great Plains for the Iowa State Fair in mid-August.

Kollan, Christine's youngest son, said it's just nice to see his mother smile again.

"It's just going to be a lot better with us," Kollan said. "I really think that my mom is going to be happy again. That's all I want is for her to be happy."

Kollan spends every other week with his father, but he always looks forward to time with his mother and soon-to-be stepfather.

"What really is great about it is I'll finally have something in my life since then that is happy," said Kollan, a sophomore at Grand Haven High School. "I think he's going to be a cool stepfather."

Of course, like any fast-moving couple, Doug and Christine have faced plenty of questions from friends and family.

"Everybody else is like, 'You've got to slow down,'" Doug said. "We're glad people care, but sometimes it seems like people care too much."

Doug said his two children are a little more apprehensive because he's moving away from them, but they still plan to come to the wedding.

Although the past few months have been great for the couple, both say they are ready to settle down and begin a happier chapter in their lives.

"We both just want to get on with our lives together," Doug said. "We keep talking about what the next 50 years will be like together."

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