by Linda L. Esterson
In September 2010, Scott Morsberger took Lindsay Steinweg on a hiking trip to Oregon.
It had been his turn to plan their trip together, after Lindsay had organized an Orlando vacation with outings to Sea World and Discovery Cove.
The pair flew into Portland and drove the coast. Along the way, they enjoyed horseback riding, hiking and whitewater rafting. Following a 90-minute drive from Bend to Crater Lake National Park, they hiked a trail to Mount Scott, enjoying phenomenal views along the rim crater filled with water and a tower overlooking the lake at 6,000 feet. Late in the afternoon, following the day-long hike, they ventured down a quite rocky path via Cleetwood Trail to the lake and walked along the frigid water.
Scott bent down and exclaimed his shock to Lindsay. “Oh my God, look what I found.”
Lindsay joined him, curiously.
Scott showed her a beautiful diamond ring, and told her he found it in the water. She was astonished.
That’s when he turned to her and asked her to marry him. A tearful Lindsay accepted.
The pair had come a long way after meeting when Scott brought Cody, his 11-year-old German shepherd/labrador mix, for a veterinary visit in October 2008. Lindsay had noticed Scott, but took note of his references to “we” when explaining daily activities. Lindsay suggested a series of tests, and Scott agreed. The “we” turned out to mean his brother, Craig Morsberger, with whom he shared a house.
“Cody was getting expensive,” said Scott, now 39, a physician assistant in cardiology at Carroll Hospital Center. “It was $400, but the vet was cute so I paid for it.”
Lindsay called with the results; all was OK.
They saw each other again a few months later when Cody experienced allergy issues. Scott asked specifically for Lindsay, and when he arrived she darted into the restroom to check her appearance.
Both seemed interested, and both had recently ended relationships. Yet neither made a move that day.
About three weeks later, Lindsay received a handwritten letter in the mail at her veterinary office. Scott expressed pleasure with seeing her again and thanked her for caring for Cody. He offered to bring her dinner one evening, since he knew her hours were long.
Lindsay contemplated his offer for a few weeks, and Scott assumed she wasn’t interested.
In the end, Lindsay called Scott, after recovering from an illness and taking into consideration his dog was a patient in the practice. They spoke for two hours, and discovered their eight-year age difference. He was 33 and she was 25.
In March, they enjoyed a two-hour dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Owings Mills. It was then that Lindsay learned about Riley, Scott’s 4-year-old son from a past marriage, and that he had previously been engaged as well.
“I was full, but I ordered dessert,” laughs Lindsay, now 31 and practicing at Mt. Carmel Animal Hospital in Hereford. “I wanted to keep talking to him.”
They continued dating, and their third time together, after a movie, they shared a sweet, gentle kiss. Later, Scott texted, saying he enjoyed the date and hoped to see her again.
He did, but then she broke things off a month later over concerns about his prior marriage.
But they remained in contact, with flirty text messages. Thus, Scott knew their relationship was far from over. Lindsay had moved to an apartment in Damascus, and asked Scott to help assemble furniture.
“I never had a chance to be upset,” Scott recalled.
He invited Lindsay to a party he was hosting for hospital nurses. Lindsay put on her “cutest outfit,” making sure she “looked good.” She stayed long after the guests departed and they talked, rekindling their relationship.
But in July, Lindsay again broke things off over concerns from her family.
“It was awful,” she recalled. “I missed him so much.”
Scott had nasal surgery and Lindsay checked in, offering to bring a milkshake. Instead, he asked for two McDonald’s cheeseburgers. They played Yahtzee and laughed so hard that Scott’s nose bled.
He knew he needed to be persistent to prove to Lindsay and her family he was there for the long haul. He brought hot chocolate to her at work, and left flowers and candy on her car for her to discover before heading home.
When Lindsay became ill with a kidney stone, Scott sprang into action, arranging for her to be seen by the hospital’s emergency room chief and made comfortable immediately upon arrival. They enjoyed pizza at Lindsay’s parents’ home in Owings Mills after her release from the hospital. When Scott offered to wash her soiled clothes, her parents realized how much he cared about their daughter.
In September, they professed their love, and on Halloween, Lindsay met Riley.
“I had a feeling at that point it would be long term,” Lindsay said. “He was a quality guy and I was moving forward.”
That led to their planning trips together and ultimately that special day in Crater Lake National Park.
They were married June 25, 2011 at the Little Baker Chapel at McDaniel College in Westminster, and celebrated with 100 friends and family members at the Inn at Roops Mill. They wowed the crowd with a foxtrot to Nickelback’s “Never Gonna Be Alone.”
After a “mini moon” to Steeles Tavern in Virginia, they moved into their Westminster home before honeymooning in Seattle and Hawaii that September.
Nearly four years later, they reflect on the adversity they overcame to be together. They have developed a friendship with Riley’s mom. Lindsay and Scott welcomed son Wesley in 2013.
“If you can get through all the difficulty then you can get through anything in life,” Scott said. “Having been divorced, I definitely don’t want to do that again.”
Lindsay added, “It was just one of those things… he was somebody I couldn’t be without. There’s just something about him; he’s a genuinely nice guy. This is for keeps.”
