10 Years with Paul

 
Ten years ago today, Paul and I were married.

It was your typical northwest Ohio wedding, with storybook-perfect weather. What was atypical was how Paul and I met.

June 2001. I had just started a summer job as a page at the Ohio Statehouse. Earlier in the month I had moved out of the Ohio State dorms and into an off-campus apartment with a houseful of strangers. I had just finished my sophomore year, and it was my first summer away from Defiance. My friends had split Columbus, and I was on my own.

I met Paul one of my first days on the job. He began working at the Statehouse a couple of years earlier, and I remember how frustrated he was that he wasn't getting full-time hours that summer. In fact, my 32-hours per week position was probably one of the reasons his was cut back!

So he decided to quit. But before then, we spent several hours together manning the clerk's office of the House of Representatives. Summers at the Statehouse are slow, and barely anyone was around. We could even read at the desk.

He was impressed that I was reading one of his favorite books, "Catch 22." I loved hearing about the previous summer he spent in Ireland and traveling around Europe. We talked about this and that, and the conversation eventually made its way to -- of all things -- Waffle House. He couldn't believe I'd never been there. On his last day at the Statehouse, he said he'd take me there and asked for my number.

He called, but instead of a trip to Waffle House, he asked if I liked sushi. I'd never had it. We went to Haiku in the Short North anyway.

And if all goes as planned, we'll be eating at Haiku again tonight, more than 10 years later.