It is with so much excitement that we share with you the Sappy Love Story of our 1st Boston NotWedding couple, Lauren and Steve. We are honored that The NotWedding will be an experience added to their journey together and look forward to celebrating with all of you on Monday, March 3rd!
“A lot of people will tell you that life is all about the journey. I hope you will withhold judgement when I tell you that our journey began in a liquor store. The first time I met Steve, we were in Kappy’s in Falmouth, MA where we lived at the time. I was dragged there with a friend who knew Steve and had arranged for all of us to hang out that night. There he was, in between 30 racks of Miller Lite piled as high as his 6’3” frame, dressed in an ensemble acquired exclusively from the Salvation Army. Steve smiled and offered a friendly handshake. I would love to tell you a romantic story about how we stood gazing into each other’s eyes, and it was love at first sight, but the truth is I could not stop staring at his blue flip flops (it was mid-winter) and gray polyester pants with cuffs. And pleats. And also, it smelled like stale booze. You can’t make this stuff up.
And so our journey began that night. I discovered that while we shared nothing in common when it came to fashion choices, we seemed to hit it out of the park with everything else. We spent the entire night exchanging stories about our shared experiences with the Sea Education Association (a program we both did as students), flipping through photo albums, oblivious to the party going on around us. We could have talked all night. He was charming and funny. I was enamored by his blue eyes and contagious laugh. We were having such a good time, I almost forgot he was wearing pleated pants. We started dating shortly after that night, I guess, though neither of us really remembers a first date. We went on a lot of adventures together. And we had endless amounts of fun. It didn’t really matter what we were doing, or where we were. We were with each other.
I remember calling my dad one day, to tell him that Steve and I were going to move to Boston. Together. And share the same apartment. As it is a dad’s job to do, he contested the idea. He gave me a brief, fatherly lecture about moving in with another person, and the implications that ensued. Was I sure? Shouldn’t I be engaged first? Who was this Steve character to abscond to the big city with his baby girl? I assured him. I knew. Steve was The One.
Fast forward to Valentine’s Day 2006. It was literally THE coldest day of the decade, and Steve had an outdoor date planned for us. Our journey involved ice skating on Frog Pond and briskly walking through the Boston Public Gardens. I was frozen from head to toe, but Steve INSISTED we continue on our stroll. Numb to my core, I was about to give up on this shenanigan, when we stopped walking. Steve turned me around and looked at me with loving, but nervous eyes. Oh. My. God. He was proposing! The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, but I can certainly tell you one thing: I wasn’t very cold after that!
Eight years later, while our shenanigans continue, I’m happy to report the pleats have been discontinued from the wardrobe. Each day brings a new adventure. Life has taken us up and down mountains, across rivers and oceans, around lakes, on bikes, on skis, on foot. Steve opened my eyes to the thrill of skiing, an activity he has patiently taught me over the years. Steve took me on my first sail on a Sunfish, and we now enjoy Caribbean sailing vacations every year. Activity or destination aside, the journey for me has been the irreplaceable opportunity to fall in love all over again each day. It sounds cliche. But it has been an incredible adventure growing old with Steve. Every day is a test of love, understanding, compromise, support, and upholding a promise we both made on July 14, 2007. And that? That’s the real journey.”
– Lauren
Photo: Rebecca K. Photography
