The Convoluted Story of How I Met My Husband

One of my favorite stories to tell is the story about how my husband and I ended up together.

One could argue that our “meet cute” was after my mother arranged a first date, yet we actually crossed paths a few times before officially being set-up.

Jesse and I like to imagine that, as kids, we played in close proximity on the lakefront of Fairy Stone State Park. My family vacationed there each summer and Jesse, who lived nearby, frequently visited the park. The first time we can actually confirm that we crossed paths was during my last month of lifeguarding at Bear Creek Lake State Park, shortly after he started working for my father’s boarding school. Only a month into his job, Jesse accompanied his group of students for a night out of swimming. I, being drunk on my head lifeguard power and the fact that the teens attended my father’s school, made sure to display myself prominently to keep those kids in line. ;) We probably exchanged “hellos” as I introduced myself to the boys, but our interaction ended there.

A year later, I found myself dancing at the Downtown Mall for Charlottesville’s First Fridays. My housemate came running at me, pulling a fellow behind her. As it turned out, her newly found dance partner was a group leader at my dad’s school and she wanted to introduce us. He proceed to introduce me to his roommate and co-worker, Mr. Trochim. Jesse’s title registered in my mind as the ladies of the school, my mother included, frequently gushed over the “tall, dark, and handsome” Mr. Trochim. I was curious to meet the guy. After an upbeat introduction by his roommate, Jesse stared at me blankly and offered a “hey.” End of conversation. Unimpressed and put off that the dude hadn’t asked me to dance, I spent the rest of my evening dancing with his roomie and my friends.

Fast forward two Christmases to when I found myself at my parents’ Christmas Eve party with Mr. Trochim and his students. My father, who loves to facilitate conversations, pulled me away from a friend and shoved Jesse at me. “Tell him the story about the baboons in South Africa,” he chuckled before immediately disappearing. Awkwardly, we reintroduced ourselves to each other and I began to tell Jesse about how baboons had broken into my study-abroad house and stolen all the food from the building. Amid my story, I briefly glanced behind me to answer a guest. When I turned around, Jesse was skulking away.

That following year I was on-again, off-again with my long-term boyfriend and each time I was “off,” my mother would urge me to let her set me up with Jesse. I declined each time for many reasons (he worked for my dad, my mom was the one trying to set us up, he had left zero impressions on me, etc.). Funnily enough, that following October, fed up with my off-again relationship, I mentioned to the sister of my long-term boyfriend that I would be open to being set up. She immediately went to my mother, who was helping her sew a Halloween costume, and told her to pass my number along to Jesse. I wish it had been that simple…

The next work day, my mother asked one of the school’s office managers to give Jesse my number (in an effort to keep the circumstances from feeling awkward). That dear lady proceeded to print a copy of my Facebook profile picture before writing my number down. Then she gave it to her husband, my father’s business partner (read: one of Jesse’s top bosses) and asked him to give the paper to Jesse. As the school is a wilderness-based program, the boss trekked down to Jesse’s group where he pulled him aside and informed him that Mr. Williams’ daughter was “obsessed with him” and that he needed to ask me out on a date…. I’ll let all of that settle in…

Fortunately for us all, Jesse was a good employee (and was intrigued) so he called me immediately from the school’s administration building. I happened to be irritated with my father at the time so when the caller ID of my phone showed the school calling, I almost didn’t answer. When I finally picked up, I answered with a grumpy “hello” and, quite off-guard, found myself thoroughly confused as to who the southern-drawling stranger was on the other end of the phone. When the call ended, I found myself dazed and committed to a date that following Monday.

While our first date wasn’t love at first sight (for me), I admired Jesse’s gumption to ask for a second date as he left that evening. He continued to have our next date lined up after each get together and he never texted. He called. Regularly. Between that genuine connection and the beauty that radiated from his soul, I was hooked within the first month of dating.