The cable companies that Terry and I individually worked for merged in 1999 and I became the sales assistant for him and his co-workers. At first, we just did a lot of joking and laughing with each other when he would call in his sales or report his numbers. After a few weeks, we finally met at an all employee meeting in Elmhurst. I remember thinking how on earth could I get involved with someone more than a foot taller than me. But he was so handsome and had a smile that lit up the room. There was just nothing about him that I didn't like.
On April 10, 1999, we had our first date. I gave him the worst possible directions to my house. I sort of knew where he was in relation to me, but he got lost. His sense of direction was horrible. When he arrived at my house, I couldn't believe how handsome he looked. Terry always tried to dress nice; it took me two or three years to get him into a pair of jeans and sneakers. He sat and watched the chaos of juggling where Stephanie and Timothy were going to be while I was gone. If memory serves, Stephanie was babysitting and Tim was going to be at a friend's house.
He took me to Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago. The first of many forays into things I didn't think I would like but would end up having a great time. We had a wonderful dinner and great conversation. While waiting for our table, we sat at the bar and talked incessantly about everything and nothing. The person sitting next to Terry bumped him on the arm and said "that girl is falling in love with you". His reply was "I was first". It makes me smile just thinking about that one moment in time that turned out to the springboard for the next 11 years. After our dinner, he took me on a carriage ride through the downtown area. Another first of many carriage rides in our future. What a wonderful ride that was, the air was just chilly enough for a blanket and his arm around me. There was no doubt that I was falling in love.
When we left the city on our way back home, Terry knew how much I loved to sing so we stopped at a place where my friends and I went on the weekends to sing karaoke. He was so patient with all of us and our smoking. He hated smoking but never complained when I lit up. One of my co-workers was being silly and touched the back of my leg to scare me, imagine my surprise when Terry confessed later how jealous that made him. I tried to get him to sing (he had such a nice singing voice) but he was too shy to take the microphone.
I came home from this date floating on air thinking, at last, there was someone out there that knew how to bring laughter and happiness into another's life. At this time, I was separated from my first husband but I knew going forward, Terry would be my life partner. I was divorced in May of 2000. Terry and I were married in July of 2002.