Happy Anniversary, Pat and Phil!

Eleven years ago today, my husband Paul and I went on our fourth date.  I'm usually pretty bad at remembering details, but I can tell you with certainty what we did on our first four dates, eleven years ago.

Our first date was two Tucson's Fourth Avenue Street Fair.  During that date, Paul started ranting about the idiocy of people who insisted on having grassy lawns in drought-stricken Tucson, and I was hooked.

Our second date, we went to see a horrible movie, which somehow managed to garner critical acclaim - Gangs of New York.  On this date, Paul's loathing of Leonardo di Caprio was solidified, and we bonded not only over the horribleness of Gangs of New York, but also our mutual dislike for The English Patient, another critically acclaimed movie that perhaps two people in the whole US were willing to admit they disliked...and they were now on a date together.

Our third date, I invited Paul to go on the Medical Anthropology overnight camping trip to Patagonia, AZ. He gained major points not only by knowing how to put up our tent (I had borrowed it from my roommate and had no idea what to do with it) but also by making s'mores for my friends and making charming small talk with total strangers.

Which brought us to April 20, 2003, our fourth date.  Which happened to be both Easter Sunday, and my future in-laws 35th wedding anniversary. And the first time I had met anyone in Paul's family. Talk about your nerve-wracking scenarios. 

But it turned out to be lovely. Paul's parents are wonderful folks, and his brother and sister-in-law made me feel welcome, too. His nieces and nephew were just kids, 10 and 11 - now they're in in their early 20's. The food was great, and conversation flowed easily. There was an awkward moment around pictures - his parents took one of Paul and I (which I think is now packed away in a storage space in Virginia - at least I hope it is, since it didn't make it to Scotland with us) but of course I wasn't in any of the other photos, but who knew if I was going to be around another week, a month, a year? It was only our fourth date.

But, eleven years later, I have not only married Pat and Phil's youngest son, but have also taken himto Rhode Island for three years, and now Scotland for two. Part of his heart will always be in Tucson, though, with Pat, Phil, and the rest of the Orzechs. So Happy Anniversary, Pat and Phil, and we'll see you in Tucson as soon as we can!