22 Years Later and Happier Than Ever

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On November 10, 1990, I went on my very first date with my soulmate. I didn’t know it at the time, but almost eight years later, we’d be married. And now 22 years later, we’d have  two amazing kids and happier than we’ve ever been.

Yes, today marks the 22nd anniversary of my first date with my wife Allison. That first date was actually a blind date dance at college up in SUNY Binghamton. I had met Allie a number of times before that due to a mutual friend who lived on my floor of the dorm.

Allie and I had actually become fairly good  friends but I was way too chicken of a freshman to ask her out. So when a blind date dance was coming up on campus, Allie told her friend to set us up. Her friend asked if I wanted to go with “someone” and I quickly said yes, pretty confident I knew who “someone” was.

I was a total stinker about it too. I knew Allie was my blind date. I knew she knew I was her blind date. But she didn’t know that I knew. Know what I mean?

So the day before the dance, I accidentally bumped into her on campus. She was carrying a dress with her and we started talking about the dance. She was acting all funny and asked if I was going. I rolled my eyes and said something like, “Yeah. I’ll probably be set up with some crazy boring chick or something.” She nervously laughed and headed up to her room.

We met at the dance and I feigned surprise. Then we went to the dance and had the time of our lives. I don’t think we stopped smiling or holding hands for a second the entire hole night.

I remember leaving the dance and walking across the quad back to our dorm. It was raining slightly, just as Guns N Roses would later predict. We went back to Allie’s dorm and sat on the couch in her suite for hours just talking. In my head, I just kept thinking “When do I kiss her? How do I kiss her? Does she even want me to kiss her?” as we laughed and talked about all sorts of things. In her head, I later found out, she was wondering, “Why the heck isn’t he kissing me yet?” At some point at probably around 1 or 2 a.m., I called it a night. And yes, we kissed. Just one magically, innocent kiss. We called it a night and the rest is history.

For our first “real” date after the dance, we went to the local mall and I bought her a slice of pizza. Big spender, right?

Anyways, it’s hard to believe it’s exactly 22 years later, but I honestly couldn’t be happier. We’ve got a great house, two insanely awesome, smart and sweet boys, and Allie and I just completely get each other. We’ve never been more open and more communicative with each other, nor more in love. (Sorry, I should’ve warned you that you may be gagging at some point with this post.)

Happy 22 years of dating, Allie!

8 thoughts on “22 Years Later and Happier Than Ever”

  1. Awww, that story never gets old!! On my first date with Michael, he bought me a piece of pizza, too! Us Binghamton girls must be cheap dates! And BTW, I have a copy of that same picture in the beautiful photo album Allie’s mom made for me. Happy date anniversary, you crazy kids! ~ Love, Phyllis

    Reply
    • Hey, Phyllis! Too funny. Thanks for the well wishes. We actually have a date night tonight and I won’t be buying pizza. I’ve upped my game to sushi. And that photo is actually in a frame on our dresser. I took a photo of the photo to upload with this post.

      Reply

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