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Love stories that grew on the bus thanks to the Milwaukee County Transit System

Emmett and Yelonda Nash (pictured left) both met while working as drivers at Safeline, but both left to work at MCTS. Tod and Kristine Wanta (pictured right) met while riding on the MCTS.
Emmett and Yelonda Nash
/
Milwaukee Country Transit System
Emmett and Yelonda Nash (pictured left) both met while working as drivers at Safeline, but both left to work at MCTS. Tod and Kristine Wanta (pictured right) met while riding on the MCTS.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) may seem like an unlikely place to find love, but for these couples, their relationships grew along the route.

Emmett and Yelonda Nash

Emmett and Yelonda Nash both met while working as drivers at Safeline, a school bus company. They have been married for 30 years and have been a couple since 1987. According to Emmett, it was Yelonda who pursued him at the beginning.

Yelonda describes the moment she first saw Emmett, "He was standing outside one day, and it was... the sun was shining. And he had this really long pretty hair. Really pretty brown eyes and I asked my instructor, 'Oh, who's that cute guy over there?'"

Immediately, the instructor called Emmett over to a mortified Yelonda. Week or so later, she built the courage to ask him out to get pizza at Rocky Rococo's Pizza in Bayshore. Emmett said yes and the rest is history.

"I thought she was gorgeous," Emmett says. "When you meet someone, you really don't know them. But Yelonda was the first person that I met, that we had commonalities and thought." They dated for five years before tying the knot in 1992.

Emmett and Yelonda Nash met in the late 1980's while working at Safeline, a school bus company.
Yelonda Nash
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Yelonda Nash
Emmett and Yelonda Nash met in the late 1980's while working at Safeline, a school bus company.

At one point in their relationship, they both left Safeline to work as drivers at MCTS. Emmett worked for MCTS for 29 years before retiring, and Yelonda continues to work at MCTS. This year, she will be celebrating 28 years.

Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta

Two MCTS passengers fell in love while riding on the bus. Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta both worked near each other and took the same route home. But it wasn't until a random day that Tod initiated conversation with Kristine.

"She was talking to a friend of hers on the seat in front of me. And their conversation was interesting. And I just kind of butt in," Tod recalls. Soon, Tod and Kristine would chat every day on their commute.

Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta met while riding the MCTS on their commute.
Tod Wanta
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Tod Wanta
Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta met while riding the MCTS on their commute.

Kristine remembers, "We just started talking, and you get to know things about a person when you're riding a bus and when you're on the bus for about 45 minutes every day. So he turned out to be my best friend and soulmate."

About six months before they met, Kristine's father passed away. And he often asked Kristine if she could meet anyone from the office or on the bus. So, Tod says, "We kind of figured or think a little bit that our fathers in heaven got together and kind of put us together."

They planned for their wedding to be in 2020, but with the pandemic, they postponed it to 2021. Tod and Kristine got married at the Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee. After their ceremony, they were surprised by an MCTS Freeway Flyer at the church steps.

Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta met on their commute home. On their wedding day, they were surprised to see a MCTS Freeway Flyer and driver congratulating them.
Anna Schryver
/
Milwaukee Country Transit System
Tod Wanta and Kristine Wallner Wanta met on their commute home. On their wedding day, they were surprised to see a MCTS Freeway Flyer and driver congratulating them.

Tips for Love

Being in a long-term relationship has its own set of challenges. For Tod, he knew he saw a life with Kristine after learning about who she was.

"I always tell her she gets to get out of purgatory free card just for putting up with me. But we just seemed to we just seem to click on everything. Our faith, our disposition, and how we were brought up. Both of us have had some that to the same values, the same line of thinking on how we want to live our lives."

For Emmett and Yelonda, the key to a loving, 30-year marriage is taking their time during their engagement period to get to know each other.

"And then there's gonna have to be some compromise because everything that she likes, I don't like everything. And everything that I like, she doesn't like. Compromise is definitely necessary. Communication is key," Emmett says. "Three good C's, Christ, communication and compromise."

Yelonda's advice is to make sure you dissect who the person is before walking down the aisle. "I always tell people to make sure that when you go on to this thing called marriage, it's a forever thing. It is not one of them things where you get tired, and you throw in the towel after a couple of months—because that's not how marriage is supposed to be. When you take that vow, that vow is really forever."

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Mallory Cheng was a Lake Effect producer from 2021 to 2023.
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