Happy News for a Monday

My brother's getting married!!!

I'm so excited for him and for his fiance and her daughter. They will be wed on the 4th anniversary of their first "date", May 21st, which has such a wonderful story behind it.

My brother had come off a very difficult divorce and wasn't really ready to start dating yet. He had heard the Portland Opera was going to be putting on a Mozart performance, and he likes Mozart, so he went to Ticketmaster to see what tickets cost. When he clicked on "best seats available," front row tickets came up. He hurried and grabbed them because he thought, if I'm going to the opera, I might as well do it right.

And then suddenly, he realized, he had two tickets to the opera and no one to go with. He didn't feel like he could really take a guy friend to the opera. And although he had a few girls who were friends, front row tickets were pretty spectacular, and he didn't want his friends to feel weird about it, to think it was more than what it was. So, one of his friends suggested trying Craigs List. She said, there's a "Platonic Only" section. She really pushed him to try it!

So he put up an ad that said he had a ticket to the opera available, he wasn't looking for a relationship, he just wanted a fun night out, and if someone was willing to go, he'd provide the ticket, and she could buy dinner.

Shortly after he posted the ad, across town, a couple of women friends were hanging out and one of the ladies said, have you ever checked out Craigs List? Tish said she hadn't. So Tish was toodling around Craig's List, for the VERY FIRST TIME, and happens to click on the "Platonic Only" section. Recently she had been thinking about how she used to go to the opera quite often when she was in the bay area and missed it. When she saw the ticket available ad, she clicked on it. Oh, she thought, he wants a date. Even though it said he wasn't looking for a relationship, the whole thing sounded a little strange. And really, wasn't it? Going to the opera with a guy she never meant? Who knew what kind of guy he might be?

Still, she e-mailed him. She said she'd be happy to take the ticket off his hands, to pay for it, but she didn't think she was interested in dinner and all of that.

He e-mailed her back and somewhere in that e-mail back, he happened to mention that he was a "closet headbanger" and he'd actually never been to the opera, but played instruments in a band and did like Mozart.

Those two words got a conversation started. And so, they e-mailed back and forth for a few weeks, and finally, she agreed to go with him to the opera. The night before, they met for a drink, so they could get the awkwardness of meeting for the first time out of the way. She said when she walked in, and saw he wore glasses, she thought, Oh no, I'm a sucker for guys who wear glasses. She thought she'd just wear a nice pant suit to the opera, but after she met him and talked with him, she knew she wanted to look NICE. So she spent the entire day the next day shopping for a dress, and she found a spectacular one.

And guess what she's going to wear at the wedding, four years to the day of that date? Yes, that dress!!!

I love this story because it reminds us to get out there and take chances. So many things had to fall into place for them to meet. And yet meet they did. The universe brought them together, and still, it was each of them who had to take a step forward and say yes to something scary and different.

So YAY for love! And YAY for taking chances!!!