|
|
June 26, 2004 | The Chapel at Beaver Creek | Beaver Creek, Colorado
|
|
His Side:
|
I first noticed Caitlin while in math class at the University of Denver. Due to the fact that I was a wee-Freshman, I of course found myself sitting in the back of class with my head against the wall, recovering from the previous night's events. (Come on, it was an 8:00am class during the same season the Broncos won their first Superbowl). Nonetheless, Caitlin would sit in the front of the class and pretend she was serious about math.
I never had the guts to ask her out because I thought I would never have a chance with someone like her. So, Freshman year went on without Caitlin in my life, as did my Sophomore year. Finally, during my Junior year (Caitlin's Senior year), on October 21, 1999, mutual friends introduced us at our local watering hole, "The Stadium Inn." The next day, we met downtown to celebrate Caitlin's birthday. On October 23, I asked Caitlin over to my Mom's house to watch the Broncos game. I think she was a little nervous being there since it was only the third time we had met. Regardless, that night we had our first date - dinner and a movie - and call October 23rd our official anniversary (until we make it OFFICIAL on June 26, 2004).
|
|
Her Side:
|
For a guy that supposedly used to watch me from the back of math class, it’s interesting that he doesn’t actually remember the first time we met at all. Really, our first conversation took place an entire year prior to Joey’s version of events, also at the good old Stadium Inn. Joey and I briefly shared a booth and talked about his love of sailing. I’m not sure we even exchanged names, so for a year I knew him only as the-cute-blond-kid-who-sails. We met again at the Stadium a year later (October 21, 1999). The next three days were a whirlwind…a late night movie at his house (A River Runs Through It?), my birthday celebration downtown, a DU hockey game, the Broncos game at his Mom’s house and finally, the first official date on the 23rd. Clearly, we didn’t like spending time together at all and there was no way this was going to work.
|
|
Since 1999...
|
Joey and I finished out our time at DU and moved to Chicago just days after his graduation. We shared a tiny apartment in Lincoln Park for just over 2 years, along the way, acquiring our beloved kitty cat Libby (a birthday gift to Joe from his brother and Best Man, Geoff). I was working at KPMG in Forensic Litigation and he was at PricewaterhouseCoopers doing SAP consulting (VERY technical accounting systems). In 2002, IBM acquired Joey’s group at PwC. I left KPMG in the summer of ’03 to join the Sales Finance team at PepsiCo/Quaker (all Quaker foods, Tropicana and Gatorade brands). Also in the summer of ’03, Joey and I bought a house in Wrigleyville, just 5 blocks south of Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs call home. The three of us are enjoying the new neighborhood and all of the extra space.
|
|
The Proposal:
|
I came home from work on the evening of Friday, January 31, 2003 to find all of the lights in the apartment off (which was odd, as Joe had just called me at work to ask when I’d be home). When I stepped inside I saw that the hallway was filled with candles and little note cards, creating a path that led into the next room. Each of the cards said something about how Joey felt about me and our years together. I followed the path and the cards to the bedroom, where Joey was waiting, surrounded by candles and roses. When I went to hug him and thank him for his incredibly romantic gesture (I still didn’t get that he was proposing), he got down on one knee, opened the little box in his hand and asked me to be his wife.
|
|
