How it all began (HERstory)

It all began on one fateful night in November 1999…

James and I both attended Auntie Cecille and Uncle Vic’s 25^th wedding anniversary. James and his family flew to Toronto from California for this special event. I was working until 8pm that night, so I didn't even know if I could make it to the party on time! I went anyways, knowing I'd be very late. The party was already in full swing by the time I arrived! I was greeted by Rachel and she introduced me to all the cousins from California. As I reached over to shake his hand, clumsy little me knocked over James’ drink onto his lap! If that doesn’t make a first impression, I don’t know what does! I don’t remember talking to him much that night… who knows? Maybe we did… all I know is that there were A LOT of cousins there (little did I know, there were much more of them in California!)

A more casual and informal get-together was held at the Barrientos residence the following evening. James tagged along with Rennie to pick me up… he reminded me that it was him who I spilt the drink over! He taught me how to play Trump with the other cousins and we also had a long conversation… ending with the exchange of email addresses. I didn’t think he would remember my email address because… well… everyone had a lot to drink… I definitely didn’t remember his!

To my surprise, I received my first email from him! It was great to hear from him because we got along so great that night! Our almost daily emails turned into almost daily phone calls until I mustled up the courage to visit him in California in December 2000… I thought what the heck, the worst thing that could happen is I get to see San Francisco!

I’m glad I took that chance to see him because we had an amazing week… he really swept me off my feet! He showed me the sights of San Francisco and the Bay Area and we spent New Year’s in Reno with his friends. But the best thing of all was getting to spend time with James in person and getting to know him better. We decided that we could do this! We could make a long distance relationship work! The week came to an end and I was really sad to leave… I cried the entire 5 hour flight home!

And so began our long distance relationship… I racked up frequent flyer miles, I learned which calling card had the best rate and whenever I looked at a clock, I knew what time it was in Toronto and California… (3pm/12pm I would think to myself!)

up next... our Engagement story (to be written by James, right?)