Childhood friends reunite after 50 years

SOAP LAKE — Gordon and Lu Hottmann are celebrating their 25th anniversary on Feb. 6, but their friendship is much older than 25.

Gordon and Lu, both 84, spent the first years of their childhood together but became separated in 1931.

Their mothers, both named Margaret, were friends in 1922 when Gordon and Lu were born in the tiny town of Tolstoy, S.D. Their birthdays are just 13 days apart.

"We were just together ever since we can remember," Lu Hottmann said.

The two played house as children. Gordon's aunt was their teacher in first and third grade.

When Lu imagined she had a boyfriend, she imagined it was Gordon. He owned a peddle car and wouldn't let her ride in it.

"So I had a scooter and I wouldn't let him use my scooter," Lu Hottmann said.

When Lu was 8 years old, her father died. She moved to Minnesota, while Gordan stayed behind. They both raised families; Gordon Hottmann became divorced twice with four children, and Lu Hottmann became a widow twice with two children. Lu wondered about Gordon, and Gordon thought about her sometimes.

Eventually, Gordon ended up living with his sister in California while Lu moved to Tacoma.

In 1981, Lu's mother became blind, so Lu had to write the Christmas correspondence. She wrote to Gordon's aunt, who told her where Gordon lived. She called him up and spoke to Gordon and Gordon's sister. "We had a three-way conversation like no time had elapsed," Lu Hottmann said.

Lu invited Gordon to visit her that Christmas, but he already promised one of his daughters he would visit her. But a month later he did visit.

"He came out right on his birthday on Jan. 16, 1982, which I had never forgotten," Lu Hottmann said.

Gordon stayed in a separate room at Lu's house, but it soon became apparent they were meant to be together. They married the next month. Gordon didn't know why he asked Lu to marry her, and she didn't know why she said yes.

"It must have been the Lord that got us together," Gordon Hottmann said.

Since Lu and Gordon had little money, the marriage was held at a friend's house.

The two are now happily married, with the grown children accepting the marriage. Lu said her son even calls Gordon "Dad."

Gordon suffered two strokes before he and Lu got together. They lived together in Tacoma until three years ago after the most recent stroke, when they moved to Soap Lake.

Lu lives with her son, and Gordon lives at McKay Healthcare and Rehab Center. Lu visits daily. She said their marriage has been happy.

"We should have been together all our lives," Lu Hottmann said. "Just there's a deep connection between us that's just hard to describe."