Love Story: Doris and Al Cragnotti, Montauk

Doris Cragnotti, née Wegener, of Montauk remembers the day she met her husband, Al, and her change of heart.

We met at a dance in April 1949, at a former USO hall in St. Albans, Queens, that was still open to servicemen and veterans for social events. I was 24 and lived in nearby Cambria Heights.

Al, 22, served in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific. After the war he helped his parents buy a house in St. Albans, and the family moved there from the Bronx.

He asked me to dance and later asked me for a date. He said he had belonged to the American Blue Jackets, a youth-oriented nautical club, since he was 14 years old, and that they had this formal dance once a year. I declined his invitation, but he gave me his phone number anyway.

Back home when I told my sister Evie she said, "Why not go, you still have your gown from your prom." So I changed my mind. I called Al, who said he would be in uniform when he picked me up.

Kidding with my sister, I said, "He will probably show up in some awful white uniform looking like a street cleaner." When the big night came, the doorbell rang while I was dressing, and Evie went to answer it.

She came back and said, "Wow, wait 'til you see him. He's in an officer's uniform. Wow! He sure looks handsome." Al was a lieutenant in the American Blue Jackets and was wearing his Navy service ribbons on the club uniform.

The dinner dance was held at the 34th Street Armory in Manhattan. We had a wonderful time. After the dance a group of us was invited to breakfast at another member's apartment on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. We didn't leave until 7 a.m. the next morning.

Many dates later, Al came over on Christmas Eve with my present. I opened it and saw a little doll. I said, "Thank you, it's a beautiful doll." Then Evie said, "Look at her arm." Around her wrist was a gorgeous diamond ring. My whole family was there, and we were all surprised. I couldn't say no.

We were married on Sept. 24, 1950. In 1957 we moved to Massapequa. We now have two lovely daughters, two great sons-in-law, two grandsons and three beautiful granddaughters. We built a house in Montauk in 1986 and live there now. Al retired in 1990 from the Nassau County Police Department as supervisor of the Fleet Service Bureau, then worked in maintenance at a Montauk hotel for 20 years. As the children got older I worked as a bank teller and in marketing research at Sunrise Mall in Massapequa.

I love you, Al, and thank you for making me say "yes."