When Eric Met Rachel...
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| How It All Went Down |
Rachel's Side:
How We Met
I arrived at Cornell Freshman Orientation Week
bright eyed and bushy tailed.
After being freed from the
confines of my all-girls high
school, I went on a mission to
discover what this whole co-ed
business was all about. Through this process, I
met several nice young gentlemen.
One of these proper sirs lived on the 3rd floor of
Donlon Hall. One day during that first week of
school while visiting, I somehow found myself
trapped in the dorm room of a male student whom
we shall call
Stephano, listening to him
talking large and long about his
antique lamp and fan collection.
Just as I was about to throw myself out the
window, a head came through the crack in the
door! My knight in train t-shirt and cargo pants
introduced himself as Eric and I returned the
introduction with my favorite pick up line, "Are
you Jewish?"
Over the course of the next year, Eric
and I got to know one another better -
due mostly in part to frequent
"coincidental" run-ins. Though I obviously
recognized that Eric was a special guy, I was
taking full advantage of my new co-ed
environment.
Throw a little When Harry Met Sally and 98
Degrees into the mix, and I finally (!) realized over
Columbus Day weekend
sophomore year that I and Eric
were meant to be together. Upon
my return to Cornell, I showed
up at his dorm room and
promptly stated this revelation by uttering these
impossibly romantic words: "I am ready to date
you now". The rest is history.
How We Met
I arrived at Cornell Freshman Orientation Week
bright eyed and bushy tailed.
After being freed from the
confines of my all-girls high
school, I went on a mission to
discover what this whole co-ed
business was all about. Through this process, I
met several nice young gentlemen.
One of these proper sirs lived on the 3rd floor of
Donlon Hall. One day during that first week of
school while visiting, I somehow found myself
trapped in the dorm room of a male student whom
we shall call
Stephano, listening to him
talking large and long about his
antique lamp and fan collection.
Just as I was about to throw myself out the
window, a head came through the crack in the
door! My knight in train t-shirt and cargo pants
introduced himself as Eric and I returned the
introduction with my favorite pick up line, "Are
you Jewish?"
Over the course of the next year, Eric
and I got to know one another better -
due mostly in part to frequent
"coincidental" run-ins. Though I obviously
recognized that Eric was a special guy, I was
taking full advantage of my new co-ed
environment.
Throw a little When Harry Met Sally and 98
Degrees into the mix, and I finally (!) realized over
Columbus Day weekend
sophomore year that I and Eric
were meant to be together. Upon
my return to Cornell, I showed
up at his dorm room and
promptly stated this revelation by uttering these
impossibly romantic words: "I am ready to date
you now". The rest is history.
Eric's Side:
How We Met
Bleary eyed after a long night of drinking at one of
the many frat parties that I oft frequented
freshman year, this young errant knight found
Rachel about to rob a liquor store to feed her
wedding magazine habit. After replacing each of
the 12 bottles of tequila hidden under her bulky
overcoat, I carried her back to her room, where we
had our first of several discussions about morals.
Needless to say, she threw herself at me then, but
given the personal development that needed to
occur, I was mature and decided to hold off for a
year.
Key to above story:
Long night of drinking = Sitting in my room
eating cookies
Robbing liquor store = Attempting to
talk to Stephano
Wedding magazine habit =
Wedding magazine habit
Carried her back = Actually talked to her a second
time, and remembered her name with minimal
guesses and clues
Discussions about morals = Lots of great
conversations about exactly what is wrong with
me
I was mature = Yeah, right
Decided to hold off for a year = 6 months of not
getting what was going on, 2 months of trying not
to be a rebound guy, 4 months of desperate pining
and cajoling Rachel that eventually paid off (and I
refuse to believe that 98 degrees is actually
involved in that story).
How We Met
Bleary eyed after a long night of drinking at one of
the many frat parties that I oft frequented
freshman year, this young errant knight found
Rachel about to rob a liquor store to feed her
wedding magazine habit. After replacing each of
the 12 bottles of tequila hidden under her bulky
overcoat, I carried her back to her room, where we
had our first of several discussions about morals.
Needless to say, she threw herself at me then, but
given the personal development that needed to
occur, I was mature and decided to hold off for a
year.
Key to above story:
Long night of drinking = Sitting in my room
eating cookies
Robbing liquor store = Attempting to
talk to Stephano
Wedding magazine habit =
Wedding magazine habit
Carried her back = Actually talked to her a second
time, and remembered her name with minimal
guesses and clues
Discussions about morals = Lots of great
conversations about exactly what is wrong with
me
I was mature = Yeah, right
Decided to hold off for a year = 6 months of not
getting what was going on, 2 months of trying not
to be a rebound guy, 4 months of desperate pining
and cajoling Rachel that eventually paid off (and I
refuse to believe that 98 degrees is actually
involved in that story).
The Proposal
Eric and I planned a trip to Ithaca to visit my
brother. We traveled there with our lovely friend
Allison who was, at the time, playing with the
idea of attending Cornell Law (she will be starting
at University of Chicago in Aug. '07).
I was in the midst of completing my student
teaching. Thus, Eric and I went to Olin Library so
that I could keep up with my grading. The
weather was miserable, definite Ithacation with a
temperature of around 50 degrees.
The date was Friday the 13th of
April.
Given these circumstances, I was not suspecting
anything as we began our walk towards West
Campus. To my surprise, Eric suggested that we
sit on a bench overlooking
the Slope, West Campus,
and Ithaca. I promptly said
that I didn't feel like sitting
on a bench right then due to the weather,
however Eric insisted.
After we sat down, Eric expressed
his deepest feelings about why we
had really come to Ithaca, got
down on one knee, and proposed.
After I (quite fervently) accepted
and put on the ring, Eric pulled
out a t-shirt that had a picture
of a train on it, puffing the words, "I choo, choo,
choose you". I then ran down Libe Slope
screaming, "I'm engaged!"
Eric and I planned a trip to Ithaca to visit my
brother. We traveled there with our lovely friend
Allison who was, at the time, playing with the
idea of attending Cornell Law (she will be starting
at University of Chicago in Aug. '07).
I was in the midst of completing my student
teaching. Thus, Eric and I went to Olin Library so
that I could keep up with my grading. The
weather was miserable, definite Ithacation with a
temperature of around 50 degrees.
The date was Friday the 13th of
April.
Given these circumstances, I was not suspecting
anything as we began our walk towards West
Campus. To my surprise, Eric suggested that we
sit on a bench overlooking
the Slope, West Campus,
and Ithaca. I promptly said
that I didn't feel like sitting
on a bench right then due to the weather,
however Eric insisted.
After we sat down, Eric expressed
his deepest feelings about why we
had really come to Ithaca, got
down on one knee, and proposed.
After I (quite fervently) accepted
and put on the ring, Eric pulled
out a t-shirt that had a picture
of a train on it, puffing the words, "I choo, choo,
choose you". I then ran down Libe Slope
screaming, "I'm engaged!"
The Proposal
I knew that Rachel would love to get engaged in
Ithaca. My problem was how to get her there
without the set-up being completely obvious.
Thankfully, a mutual friend got into law school at
Cornell, and it was totally not weird at
all that we were needed to provide
bodyguard service (as there had been
a recent rash of dairy related
assassinations that I'm sure you recall
from that time).
It was a typical spring day in Ithaca - 34 degrees
and raining. Unfortunately, the rest of the
weekend looked worse. I jumped on the one
non-rainy moment available, and found the
coldest place possible, a stone bench atop a
windswept slope. 40 degrees
warmer, and Cornell would have
made us reenact the scene for a
promotional brochure. As it was,
Rachel showed her devotion to me
by agreeing to forgo her wishes to get back
indoors. I reciprocated by truncating a longer
proposal speech into "I know you are cold, want to
get hitched?". After this exchange, I got to unload
the swag I had been carrying around in my
pockets.
She tried to cry, but our tear ducts had frozen by
this point. Thankfully, not only was her brother
at the bottom of the slope, but also there were
several random girls that Rachel got to show off to.
I think she still has the shirt, even if she doesn't
wear it as much as the ring.
I knew that Rachel would love to get engaged in
Ithaca. My problem was how to get her there
without the set-up being completely obvious.
Thankfully, a mutual friend got into law school at
Cornell, and it was totally not weird at
all that we were needed to provide
bodyguard service (as there had been
a recent rash of dairy related
assassinations that I'm sure you recall
from that time).
It was a typical spring day in Ithaca - 34 degrees
and raining. Unfortunately, the rest of the
weekend looked worse. I jumped on the one
non-rainy moment available, and found the
coldest place possible, a stone bench atop a
windswept slope. 40 degrees
warmer, and Cornell would have
made us reenact the scene for a
promotional brochure. As it was,
Rachel showed her devotion to me
by agreeing to forgo her wishes to get back
indoors. I reciprocated by truncating a longer
proposal speech into "I know you are cold, want to
get hitched?". After this exchange, I got to unload
the swag I had been carrying around in my
pockets.
She tried to cry, but our tear ducts had frozen by
this point. Thankfully, not only was her brother
at the bottom of the slope, but also there were
several random girls that Rachel got to show off to.
I think she still has the shirt, even if she doesn't
wear it as much as the ring.
All I'm saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to
marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to
spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your
husband.
marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to
spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your
husband.
May 31, 2008
