Laser Tag and Lattes: The Night I met my Husband

I was visiting my college to sign up for classes, feeling a mix of confidence and excitement about this new journey. While there, a girl invited me to play laser tag that Friday evening. It was completely out of my comfort zone, but I told my mom I needed to go—I wanted to meet new people.

That night, at the laser tag arena, there was a guy who was exceptionally good at the game. When I ended up on his team, I was nervous about getting caught, so I huddled close behind him for cover. Later, when the teams switched, he cornered me in a game of cat and mouse. I squeezed into a little ball, trying to disappear, but he just reached over and tagged me anyway.

After I was eliminated, I sat in the main hall—the designated “safe” zone—watching the rest of the game play out. Suddenly, he appeared, a grand smile on his face. He sat down beside me, leaned in close, and asked if I was busy later that night.

I told him no.

Then he asked if I’d like to go to a coffee shop in downtown Cincinnati. I said yes—but added that I’d have to convince my mom first.

What I didn’t know at the time was that he immediately went back to his best friend and said, “I’m going to marry her.”

Meanwhile, I rushed to my mom and told her, “I found the guy I’m going to marry. I have to go out tonight.”

That night, he, his friend, his brother, and I went to the coffee shop. On the way there, he reached up and held the car’s headliner so it wouldn’t hit my head. At the coffee shop, he asked me all kinds of questions, while the other two boys remained silent.

By the time I got home, I knew—this was the guy for me.

And the rest is history.