Chris and I met at work; appropriately enough, our first encounter
was in a server room in New York City. Both he and I worked for
the same dot com at the time (now defunct); he in the NYC office,
and I in the Philadelphia-area office. At the time, Chris was a
full-time film student, who was also working full-time as an
intern. I was a lowly tech support worker who was on loan (once a
week for about 5 months) to the NYC office from Philly, since New
York didn't have their own support staff.
One day, (December 16th, 1999 to be precise,) I was sitting in the
tiny, overheated server room
(formerly a darkroom), installing Windows NT on a Compaq server,
when this guy walked in and started fiddling with some phone wires
tangled on the wall. As he worked, he turned around and noticed
what I was doing, and immediately made fun of me for installing
Windows. I laughed and defended myself, claiming that I hated
Windows and was only doing my job, whereas I was really more of a UNIX
geek (another operating system). Luckily, as I found out, he
thought the same way.
Thirty seconds later, as we both worked in silence, just as I was
thinking that I should really introduce myself, when he turned
around, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself first.
After a few more trips in and out of the 'closet' (our little
server room) and a few more lighthearted barbs were exchanged, we
parted ways. The next evening, we saw each other again at
the company Christmas party in NYC, but didn't have many
opportunities to talk.
The following week, we exchanged a couple emails ('supposedly'
about the pictures he'd sent around which he'd taken at the party).
A few days later, he got stuck at the office working 60 hours of a
72-hour shift, since the other two people on call were Muslim and
had religious holidays they needed to observe. That first night,
I called Chris and told him "I want to sing to you." A bit
nonplussed, he agreed, and I sang to him. He thought it was
incredibly sweet, and we ended up spending /five/ hours talking,
until three in the morning. The next night, while he was still on
duty, I called him again, and we spent /six/ hours on the phone,
until 5 a.m.! So that was the beginning of what has become a
perfectly wonderful, mushy, happy relationship. (And I'm sure it
makes all of you sick :).)
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Chris and I got engaged on November 25th, 2000, over Thanksgiving
weekend. I had spent Thanksgiving with my family (parents,
sister and grandparents) at my grandparent's house near Baltimore,
MD. On the spur of the moment, as I drove home to Philadelphia) I
decided to continue up to New York City, and visit Chris for the
remainder of the weekend.
That night, Chris suggested that we go to dinner at this
restaurant he'd heard about, but never visited; the Gotham
Grill. I asked him about the dress code, but he assured me the
jeans I was wearing were fine. He made a reservation.
When we showed up at the restaurant, we realized that we /were/
underdressed; it was definitely a fancy restaurant. After looking
at the menu (and more specifically the prices), it was even more
apparent.
As the evening progressed, we were incredibly impressed with the
service (who ignored our casual dress completely) and the simply
amazing food. As we held hands across the table (something Chris
and I do frequently when eating out), the waiter assured us "no,
don't move- I can set the table around you." The lobster-shrimp
linguini was absolutely delicious, and the rest of the dinner just
as good. We left after a very romantic, leisurely and delicious
dinner. (If you're willing to spring for a very expensive dinner
for a special occassion, this place was phenomenal.)
Later that night, while we were talking (at 11:41pm, to be
precise), it suddenly it slipped out: "Will you marry me?" There
was a slight pause, and then Chris answered me, quietly. "Yes."
Voila, we were engaged.
Although we couldn't quite believe it ourselves- "we really did
it!" it had happened; were were engaged, and I was the one who
had done the asking. Exactly one week later, on Saturday, we met
with my friend Miriam in 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to
spend some time together. Chris wandered off to get something,
and while he was still gone Miriam asked me if I thought we might
get married some day. Chris walked up at just that
moment. "Well, actually, yes," and we told her the whole
story. She was suprised, but definitely happy for us.
As we talked about it, Chris joked, "well, we're not /really/
engaged...I mean, she didn't get me a ring!" I responded with
"Be careful what you wish for- if you want a ring, I'll get one
for you," and he shrugged and said "Um, sure."
A few hours later, we were at the mall and we'd picked out a
wedding band together. When we got home, I presented it to him
and proposed again. He accepted, and he now wears /his/
"engagement ring" on the ring finger of his right hand. At some
point Chris will propose in return, and give me a ring. For now,
though, ours is as official as any engagement, and we're putting
the finishing touches on our wedding plans. Hurray!
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