Today
I am going to write about one of the most important days in my life – the day I
met my husband to be.
I
met my husband in 1998. My high school/college friend Denise invited me to a
get together on Saturday, August 29th in Southfield, MI were we went to high
school. I had moved to Detroit, MI after graduating from the University of
Michigan and Southfield was about half an hour away. I did not talk to Denise
all the time but we did like to hang out every once in a while. I called
another high school friend of ours, Angie, and we headed over to the get
together. The apartment was across the street from the City of Southfield Parks
and Recreation office were I had worked sophomore through senior year of high
school and the summer after my college freshman year. Shortly after Angie and I
arrived, the owner of the condo, Tony, came in and Denise introduced us. Little
did I know that this chance meeting would change my life forever.
Tony
was wearing khaki shorts and a long sleeve jean shirt (that was “in” during the
90s). I was wearing a blue stripped shirt, a choker made up different blue
color beads, a navy blue mini skirt, and black chunky platform sandals (very
90s) with a toe ring. We were in a one bedroom condo where the living room and dining
room were joined. When I walked to the big picture window I could see a pool below,
but no one was in at the time, August in Michigan can be tricky weather wise,
but this particular Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot and not too
cold. As long as I had worked at the Parks and Recreation office I had never
noticed the condos where Tony lived.
I
remember thinking Tony was nice but he did not have much of a personality. He
really did not talk to me or make eye contact once Denise introduced us.
Finally after Tony set some food out and took care of a few more things he sat
down at his dinner table. I was sitting across the room from him on the couch.
There was a guy sitting next to me and my friend Angie was on another couch
closer to the window. The TV was on and it was on America’s Funniest Home
Videos, back when videos were still on VHS. The actress Daisy Fuentes was the
host of the show at that time. In this particular episode she was wearing a
lycra silver tube mini dress. The guy
who was sitting next to me said, “you know how those Latinas are!” Given that I
am Puerto Rican, I was interested to know his thoughts on the matter. I am
light skin and in Michigan many people assumed I was mixed Black and White. It
had not been the first time I have been in a situation like this one. I turned
to the way and said, “I don’t know! How are we?” He looked at me confused and
perplexed. I told him I was Puerto Rican. He tried to back pedal and told me
how his last girlfriend was Puerto Rican. He left shortly after that.
Once
the guy was gone, Tony came to life. He looked at me and told me that no one in
his house could be taller than him and he stood up on a chair. Tony is a little
over 6 feet. I am 5’ 10” but with the 3” heals I had him by an inch. I took off
my heels and I said he was not going to punk me and we laughed. After that I
moved over to table and we started talking. I found out we were both born in
74. We had a nice conversation. My friend Angie and I were going out that night
so we headed out. Tony walked us down to the first floor. He shock Angie’s hand,
then he turned to me and he gave me a hug.
I
thought about Tony all that night. A called Denise the next day and I told her
that if he was interested to give him my phone number. As luck would have it,
Tony was moving to Kentucky the day after we met. But a couple of days after he
moved he called me. Thus began our love affair.
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