Help us celebrate Valentine’s Day this year by sending us your special love story so we can share it with everyone.
How did you and your husband/wife first meet?
We were both living in Bayside, N.Y. and had seen each other here and there at the gym and in yoga classes. My roommate and I went to our local bar, Sullivan’s, on 4th of July weekend in 1999, and ran into my wife and her younger sister. We started talking, I spilled a drink on her sister and the rest is history!
Where was the first place you went on a date?
Our first date was at a local Cajun restaurant in Bayside, N.Y. While a dinner date is not an uncommon first date, the fact that she came from another date in Manhattan earlier that night is an interesting twist. I found this out at some point in the future. The most memorable aspect of that first date, and something that we still laugh about, is that during dinner a fly landed on her face as we were talking. She didn’t notice and all I could think was, ‘I can’t believe she doesn’t know there’s a fly on her face.’ It was probably only for a second, but it seemed like an eternity. FYI, her date earlier that evening was meeting up at happy hour. (This could explain her not noticing the fly on her face…)
What is the most romantic thing you have done together?
I remember a hot day in the summer 2003, our first son was a one or two months old and we were in our first house, a two-family house in Queens, N.Y., figuring out how to be parents. We were sleep deprived, who knows when we showered last (or at least me), and probably a little on edge. We finally got our son to nap sometime in the middle of the day. We’d usually sleep during that time too, but for some reason we didn’t, and we went out onto our cement patio. We had a beer and just talked and laughed about our current situation. I know it’s not a cruise, or a candlelit dinner on the top of a mountain with an orchestra playing, but it was and is us. It was perfect.
What makes you stand out as a couple?
We’re a team. She’s got my back and I’ve got hers, always.
What lessons do you have to share with budding romances and young couples alike?
Life gets difficult at times, especially with raising kids, work, finances and more. Some friends come and go, but having an equal partner to share it all with and lay down next to at the end of the day makes everything alright. It’s the little everyday things that make a relationship/love last. I don’t specifically remember the greatest, most expensive gift my wife ever got me, but I can remember a specific moment, a look, a kiss from 15 years ago that reminds me of how lucky I am to have my best friend to go on this crazy ride with me.
-Randy J Boyle
