And Then I Met Her

March 17, 2016, started as a pretty uneventful day. I don’t recall anything special about that morning. I got up, possibly stopped at Starbucks on my way to work, had a meeting with my boss at 10:00, a call with a national committee I was part of for work at noon, a meeting with Marriott at 2:30, and a meeting with a national charity as part of my job at 4:00. Then I went home.

All pretty normal stuff.

When I got home, I parked my Jeep and, before going up to my townhouse above the garage, walked across the parking lot to get the mail.

While at the mailbox, I saw a woman walking her two Shih Tzus. At this point in my life, I was comfortable talking with people I ran into, so I said hello.

Her dogs, especially Charlie, seemed to know they had just met a new best friend.

She was wearing UConn sweatpants, and since I had worked with students at UConn, I had an affinity for the college. I asked if she had gone there.

She said she had, so I’m sure I asked her about HuskyTHON, an event I supported for about 20 years that remains near and dear to my heart.

She had not gone to the event, which is something we joke about to this day.

She mentioned that she was a runner, so I told her there were several races for the children’s hospital where I worked. I handed her my card and told her to reach out if she was interested in learning more.

We talked about the “Rails to Trails” paths that run very close to where we lived and about potentially going for a walk.

That night, she emailed me, “This is the girl you met earlier today (with the two weird little dogs who wouldn’t stop staring). If you ever want company for a walk or run on the rail trail, let me know. Happy almost Friday!”

The next few weeks were really busy for me, and I was clear with her about that.

Our first date was on April 19, 2016, at Utsav in Vernon, CT.

We talked, we laughed, and at the end of the date, I asked if I could kiss her.

She said yes. (She said yes again a little over a year later, but that’s a story for another time.)