How I Met My Guy

I met my husband Michel on December 27, 1996. My next-door neighbor had been hounding me for months to meet him because he thought we would be “perfect for each other.” I asked how they had met and he off handedly said, “Oh, through a divorced and separated support group. He’s a great guy. I had lunch with him and his son…”  Wait… Divorced?? With a kid?? How old is the kid?? How old is he?? Let me think a minute…um, no thanks. But thankfully, my neighbor didn’t give up. So, when I stopped by that day to give him his gift, a bottle of wine, instead of saying thanks as he opened the bottle of wine, he said, “Listen, the only gift I want is for you to call this guy. I’m not kidding. I think you’ll really like him.” I don’t know if it was the holiday spirit or the wine, but I finally gave in and got his information and called.

The number I was given was his work number, so I was a little thrown and unprepared when his secretary answered and I stumbled over my words and couldn’t put together a complete sentence. Why was I so nervous? She told me he was in a meeting and asked if she could take a message, so I gave her my name and number, hung up and left to run errands. When I returned, there was a message on my machine from him asking me to call him back.

It was almost 5pm and I debated calling but decided, why not? His secretary answered and I asked, “Can I speak to Michel Class?” Because that’s what I thought I heard on the machine and she laughed and said, “You mean, Michel Plasse?” I nervously laughed and thought, “Great, she must think I’m an idiot and will probably say something to him.” Between the first call and this one, they will probably have a great big laugh at my expense. Fantastic first impression!!

A few moments later, he was on the phone and from the moment we started talking, the conversation flowed naturally. It wasn’t forced and we never ran out of things to say and before we knew it, 2 hours had flown by. Neither one of us wanted the conversation to end, so he suggested coming over to my apartment to continue our conversation in-person over a bottle of wine and without hesitation, I said yes.

I hung up the phone, immediately panicked and ran next door to my neighbor and asked, “Did I just invite a serial killer over?!?” He laughed and said, “No, you’re in good hands, but if it goes south, just bang on the wall and I’ll be there in a flash.” Ok, deep breath, don’t panic. Why was I so nervous?? I tried on at least half a dozen outfits, redid my hair and touched up my make-up. I had butterflies in my stomach and as the minutes passed, they turned to bats and then the buzzer went off. He’s here!! I went over to the intercom and said, “Hello?” It was him and I buzzed him in.

By now, my stomach was doing somersaults, my heart was pounding and there was a ringing in my ears and then I heard the doorbell. I took a deep breath and opened the door and as I made eye contact, I could feel my heart skip a beat, my breathing stopped for a second and I remember thinking, “I’m going to marry that man.” Wait, what?? What was happening? I had never, ever felt that way before about any man I had ever met and I most certainly never thought I would marry them at first sight. I felt like I was having an out of body experience.

I’ll never forget how he looked, what he was wearing and the smell of his cologne. It was one of the most perfect evenings of my life and the first time I had ever had a vision of being something other than single the rest of my life. It was a strange, unnerving feeling and yet exhilarating. Could I really have met “The One?” This only happens in movies. It can’t be real. Little did I know that Michel and I would get married on December 27, 1997, a year to the day we met!!

As February 14th approaches, I realized that this will be our 25^th Valentine’s Day together!! Michel is truly my best friend, my soul mate, my lobster, my split apart, my everything. There is absolutely no one else I would rather travel down this road called life.