Love Story (Andrea's version)

It was early 2020, and the world was only whispering about a respiratory illness that started popping up here and there. I was working at the University of Chicago as a travel and events manager in the alumni office. I was single. And, I was kind of over dating and ready to adopt several Corgis and some cats. Maybe a bunny.

Cut to the Educational Travel Consortium conference in early February in Chattanooga, TN. On the conference floor of the downtown Marriott, I saw one of my sales reps, Tom Bingle.

"Tom," I said, walking up to him, "how are you?"

"Andrea," he exclaimed, "come meet the team."

A few steps away was their company table. Tom introduced me to a woman who I do not remember because of what happened next. Beside her, a tall guy was bent over getting something out from underneath the table. He stood up right then, and we locked eyes.

"This is my nephew, Bobby," Tom said.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," he replied. And I thought, I'm going to find out more about that one.

That night, we all gathered at the hotel bar for post dinner drinks. It was packed -- it seemed like everyone from the conference was there. I saw Tom again, standing next to nephew from the table, and I decided to shoot my shot.

Bobby and I shut the bar down that night, talking for hours about books and writing and travel. Back home in Chicago, we got three dates in before the world shut down. The first was watching the Dunk Contest for the NBA All Star Weekend, the second was a Bulls game, and the third was a karaoke date, where "Under Pressure" was dazzlingly performed.

We spent the next six months playing a lot of Scrabble, listening to music, and making fancy cocktails. I knew pretty quickly that this was something really special.

He is everything to me. The love of my life, my best friend, my favorite human. I want it all with him -- the good, the bad, and the grease.

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!

A&B