Doug '84 and Bambi (Prather) Brininstool '87

I was a senior, and she was a freshman.

The fall of my senior year, Bambi and her best friend (Dorena Toomer – a friend of mine also) came to a dance at the Pi Kaps (I was a Delta and it just happened that I decided to show up). I knew Dorena well, and so she introduced me to Bambi. It ended up that Bambi and I danced only one dance, while Dorena and I danced most of the rest of the evening…. And that was it.

It wasn’t until the Spring that my friend and Delta brother – John Lytle – and I were talking. He mentioned that he was thinking about asking Bambi out sometime that spring semester. I thought a little about that and decided "Doug, you kind of like Bambi a little, from talking to her at the deli, so why not beat John to the punch and ask her out first”. So the very next period I happened to have had it off, so I went to the deli (at the time in Riley) and she was there. I sat down at her table and we talked a bit like usual and I decided to ask her out. She surprised me and said yes. Woo-hoo!!!!

We went out later that week and we hit it off. We decided to go out a few more times the next few weeks. We took walks in the park, in the rain, and through the town. Apparently I was moving too slowly, as I hadn’t yet kissed her (quite some time had passed from our first date until this point in time), and she almost decided to dump me. Thank God, that same day she was thinking this, I decided to ask her for a kiss and she said yes. That kept our relationship going, and 28 years later, we are still married and going strong. We have two kids; a grandson from our first daughter (also a Linfield alum) and her husband, and our second daughter is getting married this year in May. We are so blessed, and we have Linfield to thank for it all.