The Red Cross helps people fall in love.

Yes, we’re the ultimate matchmakers. For proof, just check out our Singles CPR couple, this story from Hurricane Katrina…and now this.

I met Dave and Patsy Harpole on Sunday night at our Emergency Warming Center. They were walking by, arms around each other, towards the restroom. Patsy looked pained, so we asked if she needed first aid assistance. She didn’t — she has a degenerative bone and joint disease that makes it difficult for her to get around, so the pain was par for the course.

But out of that brief conversation came an amazing story.

Dave and Patsy had met — EXACTLY one year ago that night — right in the very same Red Cross Emergency Warming Center. They were married in March and had come back that evening to “do things right” for their second year…even placing their sleeping mats in the very same spot.

Given that our Emergency Warming Center is only open in the coldest of weather, it’s pretty incredble that it just happened to be open on the same date, in the same location, exactly one year later.

Read Dave and Patsy’s story for yourself. In this cold weather, it’s certain to warm your heart.

Photo credit: Michael Russell/The Oregonian