It’s one of those questions you start to get from your kids when they’re around 5 years old, “How did you meet?” Victoria started asking us this question recently and it made me smile. My little budding romantic! I thought it would be fun to blog today about How We Met because we just recently went to Brown University and showed the kids the exact spot we met back in 1998. It always warms my heart to be back there because it’s the beginning of the beginning of everything.
How We Met – Love Story
October 28, 1998 was the day that changed my life forever and ever. It was a gorgeous Fall morning, sun was shining and the weather was warmer than usual. It was so beautiful out that I just felt like walking to class early and grabbing a cup of coffee on my way. I went to my usual coffee spot at the Blue Room cafe on the main green of campus and grabbed the Brown Daily Herald to read.
It was around 8AM in the morning and the campus was perfectly still and quiet waiting for the 7:30AM classes to dismiss. I always loved being on the main green of campus when it was quiet because you could really take it all in. Around 8:30AM the bells rang for morning classes to start and slowly students started to walk by on the green. I was reading the paper when I saw a guy named Matt McClelland walk across the main green in front of me.
I’d noticed him a 100 times before, but today – for some reason (fate) – I waved at him (and then turned completely red of embarrassment). I had always thought he was so handsome. I actually remembering thinking to myself, “Why did you just wave?” And literally wanted to crawl inside the newspaper and hide! But something happened in that moment – he smiled back and actually came over to me! WHAT!!??
Oh, yes … I wasn’t prepared for that part of the story. We stayed there talking for about 1/2 hour about Halloween and just catching up, etc. I knew I needed to get to class, so I got up and (as much as I didn’t want to) started to get my things together so I could make it on time. I didn’t want to leave him, it was going so well. Thankfully he didn’t want me to go either, so he invited me to go costume shopping that night with him for a big Halloween party he was hosting with his buddies the next night. I said yes and the rest (as they say) is history. That was it!
Fun Fact on How We Met – I later found out that after he left me that morning and ran back to his apartment and told his buddies that they needed to toss together a big Halloween party for that next night so he could definitely see me again. 
Talk about him feeling the same way I felt, too. I love finding that out later! He was just as quick as I was to think about another time to see him!
As you can imagine, the Blue Room steps at Brown hold a very special meaning for me. After we were married we actually went to the main green campus and had our photo taken on the Blue Room steps, too. It holds that kind of special meaning to us. It’s just a destination I will always go to and always love to show the kids. It truly was the beginning of their beginning, too. That special fateful day
We took them this weekend to campus for a Memorial Service for one of our dear friends Dimitri Gavriel who passed away while serving 14 years ago. It’s the one time during the year that we always go back to Brown as a family. Every single year I’ve taken the boys and Victoria to our spot. It’s OUR spot. Special and beautiful and meaningful. It’s just a spot I always feel grateful for because it changed my life.
As you can tell the boys weren’t exactly thrilled to go on a walk down memory lane, but I think it’s important for them to know our story. I love that my Victoria cares about it and I love that I had the chance to show her the steps this year and see her really get it. It was super cute to see her love it. I just love being able to see her get excited! Make sure you share your love story and your How We Met story with your family.
Check out some other times I shared some love story posts!
The Beginning of our Love Story
Always Remember your Love Story
How cool your kids got to walk down memory lane with you! I’d like to do that with my kids one day. My husband and I met in NJ in college, but we live in NC now so we haven’t been back. We met November 10, 1995! It was the prehistoric age before smartphones.
Ohh when I saw the title of the post I just HAD to read it! And of course, I love “meeting cute,” and this is one! So darn cute! And it is wonderful to see you back where you met with your brood! Good times.
What an awesome love story! I actually met my guy on Facebook and we are still together after almost eight years!
What a great story!
Thank you for sharing your story
Nice story, thanks.
Love that you could share this story with your kids & show them all the spots. They will appreciate greatly when they’re older!
You two are cute!
thank you for sharing your story.
That’s a sweet share