Kate and I first met each other when working at Fordham. Now, we were also students at Fordham at the same time (me an '02 grad, Kate in '03) but Kate studied and I drank, so it wasn't until we worked together that we met. Just a few months in, Kate and I became friendly and soon we had entered the phase that Kate calls "courting." We shared stories about our families, our shared Irish heritage -Kate telling stories about drinking whiskey, me making casual comments about the IRA- and the many common people, places and things that made up our lives.
Fast forward to February 11th, 2005. I invited Kate out to see Shilelagh Law at Connolly's. I also forgot to mention that my two best friends and my sister/future brother-in-law would be there as well. Strike one. We hung out for a bit, watched the show and soon it was time for Kate to head home. As she got up to say goodbye, I stood, said goodbye and sat back down as Kate made her way towards the door. Soon she was gone and my friends were asking me what I was doing. "Why didn't you walk her out?" Strike two. Throughout my life, I have not exactly been a ladies man and this incident immediately made me question myself. Did I blow it? Why wouldn't I just walk her out?
Well, even with this faux pas, Kate and I made plans to hang out the following day. I did some work on campus, went to the basketball game and then made my way over to her old Bronx apartment behind the Jolly Tinker. We hung out for a while but neither of us made a move until finally it was time to go. As I left we said goodbye, we kissed. I made my way back to Long Island, nervous and excited as a 7th grader, and the following day I was on a plane to Florida for work. What a guy! Blow her off and when you do make a move, disappear to Florida for a week....well done. We talked throughout that week, we soon were dating and we haven't been apart since.
We've shared amazing times together from the craziness of the Chief's Dinner to a quiet night at home. We've been to thirteen states, two foreign countries and Montauk 50 times. We've eaten Dairy Queen in Stratford, Carvel in Stewart Manor and Italian ices in Forest Hills. We planned our wedding, bought our apartment and (barely) lived to tell the stories.
When August 1st rolls around, I imagine that I will get a little nostalgic thinking back to our wedding. We had an amazing day and our anniversary will always give us a chance to think about when we started our new life. However, when I think about my wife and the amazing life we have together, I always think about back to February 12th, 2005.
It's now February 12th, 2010. I'm off to have dinner with my wife and this time, I'm going to walk her out.
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