Fate. When you listen to this story, I had no real reason to be at the party that I met Lauren at. The connection that got me to that party, starts back in high school. While a freshmen at Hudson Catholic, due to the school being so small, I ended up getting to know many of the upperclassmen. One that I ended up getting along pretty well with was Emily. Emily graduated and went on to Boston College, where she would ultimately meet Jenn, who went to high school with Lauren.
Chris, childhood friend and roommate while living in Connecticut, had an aunt that lived in Jersey City, New Jersey and was moving and offered up a number of things to Chris so she didn't have to move them. Chris snagged a truck from work and we hit the road early for a road trip to Jersey.
What is the first thing someone always tells you when you mention driving through New York?? Stay away from the George Washington bridge. We didn't. After sitting in traffic for almost 2 hours to go about 2 miles, we broke onto open road. We got to the house at around 6-7 and had to unload the truck. I was debating and talking with Chris a lot during the drive about whether I should go to the party or not. It was going to come down to a game time decision. After getting everything out of the truck, and grabbing a shower (to wash the Jersey off), I decided to take the trip up to Boston. The next day was fathers day and I could spend some time with my dad the next day as well.
When I get to the party, the first thing I did was try to find someone I knew. I found Emily standing with Jason and decided to hang with them. While we were talking about the Redsox or something, in walked Lauren. She had the best smile. She walked up to Emily and Jason as well. We got introduced and started chatting ourselves. After the initial questions, what do you do? where do you live? how tall are you? It came up that she had just spent the last two days driving back from Florida and had passed through NY that day. I started talking about how I had also cut through NY that day. At almost the same time we started talking about how bad the traffic was. I must say, I really liked what she had on, the hoodie looked great on her (still does).
I decided to head out so I could get some sleep to work on some projects with my dad the next day, and boy did I catch crap. Everyone was giving me a hard time. When I went to find Jenn and say goodbye, her youngest sister came in and ill never forget it, pointed at me and said, "who the hell is this kid? I've asked everyone, and no one knows who he is!" Got a pretty good laugh and proceeded to head home. Even though I had just met Lauren, I got a big hug goodbye as I was saying goodbye. Not sure what was going to happen next.
I don't know what made me do it, but I changed up my modus operandi. Instead of taking Lauren's number before I left, I sent Jenn a message asking what was Lauren's "situation," thinking there is no way this totally awesome person is single. Jenn responded quickly with "single, awesome." I asked Jenn to pass my number on to Lauren, which she said of course. She always gives me a hard time about taking so long to actually ask her on a date, but again, I was still living in Connecticut (only for 2 more weeks) and plus I was trying something new.
On date #4, I slipped and told Lauren about all my kidney problems and about how I was currently in the early stages of kidney failure. I hadn't planned on telling her that early for fear of scaring her off. Quite the opposite. She started doing research about my condition and learned as much about it as she could so when I talked about it she could ask questions. The last 2.5 years of some serious emotional ups and downs would have been much harder had it not been for my number one cheerleader helping me get through. I cannot wait to start our married life together on July 21st, and to have lifetime of memories together.
Lauren's Story
I know it's cliche, but it's true what everyone says. You meet the person you're meant to spend the rest of your life with when you least expect it. I met Ryan on Saturday June 20th, 2009. I had spent the past two days driving my grandmother's car back from Florida with Vanessa. When I returned home, I dropped Honey's (my grandmother) car off to her and quickly hopped into mine. My friend Jenn from high school was throwing a graduation party/pig roast for her sister's college graduation celebration. Jenn's family is known for good parties and I was up for a few hours of socializing.
When I arrived at the party I joined the circle with Jenn's friends Emily and Jason. I noticed this tall character, I had not yet met before, in the corner of my eye. After the game a group of us started talking. The tall guy, Ryan, introduced himself. It turns out, that same day, he had been sitting in the same traffic going over the George Washington Bridge with his friend Chris. At the time Ryan was living in Connecticut with Chris and they had traveled down to NJ to pick up a TV and some furniture from Chris's uncle. Naturally, the GW bridge traffic was a great conversation starter. I remember exactly that I was wearing, my green "Junction" t-shirt, my gray zip up Hollister sweatshirt and my black "gaucho" capri pants. Nothing fancy at all! And I recall Ryan wear his blue zip up hoodie from California.
After we all had many failed attempts to convince Ryan to stay, he had to hit the road. After Ryan left, he texted Jenn to ask what my deal was. Jenn of course gave him some smart ass answer - but told him I was single. Jenn passed along his number and the texting game began that night. Ryan and I spoke on the phone and texted for about two and half weeks before he asked me out on a real date. ;)
We had our first date at Tavern on the Water in Charlestown and then walked around watching the Tall Ships in the Navy Yard. Ryan got props for planning a really cool first date, something nobody had ever really done for me. Ryan dropped me off at my apartment, we had that awkward moment, do we hug or do we kiss? I believe we hugged with a kiss on the cheek. My friends Meg & Ryan happened to be crashing at my apartment for a few days and I couldn't stop raving about MY new Ryan. Well I was beaming for days - my friends, family and co-workers at EY all knew it. The rest is really history. With some mystery dates, the times and trials of Ryan's kidney transplant journey, and countless hours spent on the sidelines cheering me on at races - our relationship has been nothing short of amazing. On June 25th, 2011 - Ryan blew me away (and all of our family and friends) with an amazing engagement proposal. A few days later we received news that his transplant date was set for August 23rd. I knew Ryan was the one from our very first date and look forward to becoming his wife on July 21st, 2012.
Ryan & Lauren - Tavern on the Water, July 8, 2011 (2 Year Anniversary)
