HOW WE FIRST MET:Scene 1: Fall 1996, Bluphies Diner in Madison, WI Jeff was cozied up in the corner of a booth with his girlfriend. I was on my first date with some other guy. My date knew Jeff and the others at his table, and we joined them.
Scene 2: Summer 1997, Going Away Party in Madison, WI First date guy was moving to NYC. Jeff and I were both at his going away party and crossed paths in the back room with all the stuff that was being sold/foisted on us guests. We began discussing the electric keyboard set up in the corner (Jeff probably revealed that he had played keyboards in the 2-person band he and his best friend had in high school) and the next thing you know, we were busy stuffing the give-away clothes to make an effigy of our host which we then sprawled across the keyboard and surrounded by as many empty wine bottles as we could find. We were just talking and laughing and completely oblivious to anyone else at the party for that hour, but then we left the room, found our respective dates and didn't think twice about it.
Scene 3: February 1998, Wine Tasting Fundraiser, Madison, WI I'd been working in the library all day, was by myself and almost didn't go, but my dad had bought me a ticket to the fundraiser for a local radio station I had been volunteering at. I went to grab a truffle from the champagne table on my way out and spotted Jeff. "Jeff, right?" was my brilliant opening line. As we chatted and exchanged contact information, Jeff's friend told me that there'd be a party soon to celebrate Jeff's birthday that I should come to. "Oh, my birthday's coming up too. When's yours?" "March 1st" "What year?" "1969" "Me too." I can still see Jeff's eyebrows shoot up in surprise while his mouth hangs open for a second and his hands flare out to his sides. He almost doubles over when he says, "Really? No way. I've never met anyone else with my birthday before." We decide to throw a joint birthday party, which gives us a great excuse to be constantly in contact. We go out on Valentine's Day, but the afternoon feels so low key and natural that I don't even think of it as a date until I talk to one of my housemates afterward. Two weeks later the party is a grand success, we are both clearly single, and we share our first kiss.
That's how we met. We're about to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We still make each other laugh.