In October 1990 a fellow faculty member from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and I went to an academic conference in Reno, Nevada.

After our plane landed, we naturally made our way to the baggage claim area to pick up our suitcases. I was standing there watching the luggage go by on the conveyor belt when I saw a cardboard box on which was prominently written: “Holly Dunn, Nashville, Tennessee.”

No sooner had I noticed the box than an attractive young woman brushed into and past my right shoulder. She scooped up the box, turned, and left the baggage claim area.

As my mind began slowly p...