Our Story

Juliet and I met online, or to put it another way, in the course of our window shopping we both saw something we liked. Juliet claims it was my dashing smile; whereas the second, and last, sentence of her profile definitely hit my funny bone and piqued my curiosity:

Looking for someone who likes to be romantic and is not afraid of snakes.

I had to know more… so I said hi and we swapped e-mails in a brief online-chat during which Juliet made a point to inform me that she wasn’t 36 or 5’9” like her profile stated. In fact, we were both 28, and she was 5’11”! I sent the first email:

Juliet,

Interesting making your acquaintance, so tell me, what are your feelings towards snakes?

kevin.

And 15 minutes later I had a response.

I like elephants better.

The next few days were an oncoming storm of e-mails between the two of us. We spoke for the first time that Sunday, finally hanging up early Monday morning just after midnight, later that day we’d meet for the first time at a local bowling alley. During the course of our bowling match Juliet had an idea for a “brownie bet”… loser bakes; and I, being the consummate gentleman crushed her. We eventually tired of bowling and moved on to pool. The whole evening was filled with laughter and when we finally called it a night it was because we were asked to leave. We’d succeeded in closing the bowling alley. We spent the next few months, before I moved to New Orleans, meeting for dinner, drinks and the occasional movie. At this point, if someone had asked me if we were dating I would’ve said, “no”. Clearly, I was in denial.

While in New Orleans, my idea of a good time was a long distance phone call with “you know who”. With hurricanes: Gustav, Irene and Ike sending me packing for Dallas, if I wasn’t with family, Juliet and I were together. By mid-September my mom was getting curious about “my friend Juliet”, but before she could learn too much I was back in Louisiana. As Halloween approached I started to get the hint that Juliet wanted to see me, and truth be told I wanted to see her too. Luckily she was able to get a ticket in time and she found me waiting eagerly for her at the airport. That night Tender Heart and Clark Kent went out; and for those who haven’t experienced Halloween in New Orleans it’s a bit like Mardi Gras, and Bourbon Street isn’t the only party in town. Down on Frenchmen Street, with live music spilling out from the clubs, there was a sea of costumed souls comprised of everything from Oompa-Loompas to vampires. Juliet opted to extend her trip, and during her stay I had more fun in New Orleans than I would for the rest of my time there! The end of her stay came too soon, but Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away and after we spent time with our respective families we would squeeze in some for ourselves. Before we knew it New Years was upon us, and contrary to our first Halloween, it was a quiet celebration. Juliet insisted on making filets and I brought the champagne. It wasn’t long after that my parents felt it was time to meet the “mystery woman”. When they did, everyone hit it off, and afterwards my parents politely informed me that Juliet was a beautiful girl, inside and out, and not to screw it up, she was a keeper!

Fast-forward a few years to December 27th, 2011, when I was finally able to catch her alone and off guard: it was a couple days after Christmas and a few weeks after both my birthday and her Master’s graduation. For a couple of days I’d been dyeing a rose blue in my car as they hold special significance to Juliet; in fact, she’d gone so far as to “subtly” hint that she wouldn’t say yes to someone unless they’d given her a blue rose first! As for the ring, well that had been “burning” a hole in my pocket since before Thanksgiving. I was just coming back from brunch with my family, when I discovered her relaxing at home; she didn’t see the rose coming until it was right in front of her nose! She was a bit flabbergasted and even more so once she realized I was on a knee with a ring in hand. I think it’s fair to say we were both a bit tongue-tied. When I asked her to marry me the smile on her face and tears in her eyes said yes before she could! That night we celebrated with our families and we’ve been celebrating ever since.