He's absolutely mortified as he reads the blog today. Oh my God, why would she put up THAT picture. She can't actually be writing about me...For those of you who know us well, you also know this story. We met at Emerson College in September 1992. I was in the third week of my freshman year. My workstudy job was putting in 15 hours a week in the box office at the Brimmer Street Theatre. The first show that year was The Miser, and Alec was the stage manager. The cast and crew of a production were entitled to some number of comped tickets, and Alec came by to claim his. He flirted and grinned. Later that day, at the first performance, a very different Alec rushed over in his show blacks, stopwatch in hand. He was terse because the box office manager, Dierdre, a graduate student, hadn't told me that I was supposed to keep an eye on the call light directly behind where I was sitting from the stage manager signaling that he wanted to close the front of house and start the show.
"Do you know what that flashing light means?" he hissed between his teeth.
"Tinkerbell is still alive?" I offered.
He set his jaw arrogantly. "The next time I use the call light, I expect an answer." With that, he stormed off.
Dierdre sat hunched over her ticket sales spreadsheet, her shoulders shaking with laughter. From that point forward, we just referred to him as "Tink", which seemed to fit his slight build and frenetic manner.
In March 1993, I was assigned to work patch panel (for nontheatre folk, I had to plug and unplug a bunch of circuits in a certain order during the course of the show) for a production called Story of Him. Alec designed the set, so he was there for production week. He came into the lightbooth to say hi to the lighting designer. Since the patch panel was mounted at about 5 feet, I was sitting on a table in the lightbooth, mostly waiting for my half dozen cues. It was dark in the booth, and we were all wearing our blacks, so he was startled to find me sitting behind him. He introduced himself.
"Yeah, Alec, I know who you are. You've introduced yourself five times now, so apparently you really want to know me, but just can't be bothered to remember my name. I hope you're paying attention this time, because the next time I'm just going to ignore you."
That got his attention. During the subsquent breaks, he seemed to always be wherever I was. He followed me into the lounge while I was smoking apparently to scold me as only an exsmoker does, to which I said something choice like "I don't care what you think". The next day, he invited me out to coffee after the call. By the end of production week, and the show's week long run, we were pretty much inseparable. I moved in with him in June 1993, and we got married almost exactly 3 years later on June 1, 1996. Five days after we got married, we packed all of our belongings into a Ryder truck, including Seamus the then very small cat and moved to Green Bay. In 1998, we moved back East, basically because I was tired of the Midwest, and we moved into an apartment we'd never seen, and Alec took a job for someone he'd never met.
So our relationship now spans over 13 years - we've been married for 10 of those years, and parents together for almost 4. I fell in love with Alec when he was 20 years old and he will be 34 in a couple of weeks. I couldn't have possibly imagined at 18 that I'd meet this guy. That we'd fall in love, get married, and commit to spending our lives together. I had no glimmer in my eye of the 2 beautiful daughters we'd have. I fell in love with this guy because he was really smart and he made me laugh. He likes to tell people he's glad he met me when I was a kid because as a grown up I never would've put up with him.
But the truth is, I could've spent a lifetime searching and I would never found someone who loves me the way this guy does. Who really believes in me and shares in our successes and in is able to find the lessons behind our struggles, both as individuals and as a couple. Someone who just gets me. I am blessed to call this brilliant, adorable man my husband and I am very proud of him. He is an amazing Dad. He is passionate about his work. And above all else, he still makes me laugh. Remember, when I roll my eyes, I'm laughing on the inside, Schmoopie.
Happy 10th anniversary! I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years has in store for us...
3 comments:
Great picture! Have you ever seen him without the beard?
He grew the beard at my suggestion. He's shaved it twice - once during hot, unairconditioned summer stock, and the other for our wedding.
A Note on the Son-in-Law from Euphony’s Dad
It seems like yesterday that I was picking Epiphany up to celebrate her 21st birthday. The year was 1995 and I was living in a hotel room near Fenway Park. I had been hired as Sales Manager at WBCN in Boston. My wife (second one and an ex now) was working on renting out our Connecticut home and finding one in Greater Boston. When I arrived at the apartment Epiphany and her then boyfriend were acting strange. Or perhaps I should say “stranger than usual”.
They then explained they had become engaged. While I liked Epiphany’s boyfriend, he seemed very immature to me. I know part of it was in contrast, since my daughter has always been wise (and still is) beyond her years. I also thought they were too young to be getting married. But, all I said was “Congratulations” and hugged them both. Alec explained that they told me first of all their parents. They each had two sets from divorces and remarriages. I was the “easy one” to tell.
Alec turned out to be a very thoughtful and considerate man. He is both an excellent father and loving husband. I am very proud to have him in our family. So, my Princess Epiphany, and my son-in-law Alec: Congratulations on the first ten. Here’s to a ton more. I love you both, and Lauren & Lindsay a whole bunch too.
Dad
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