Six Years

Six years ago today on December 9, 2005, I sat in the Chicago Midway airport, beginning to feel the effects from too much drinking the night before. I was with Andi, only a friend at the time, who possessed all the electricity of a new relationship minutes before it catapults into one.

Andi and I both worked for a popular energy drink company, and we were in Chicago for a regional meeting. We didn't see each other much since I lived in Sioux Falls, SD and he in Minneapolis so we took advantage of every opportunity we could to spend time together. An airplane would take us to Miami, FL that morning where we'd meet a Carnival Cruise Line ship for a four-day weekend trip to the Bahamas. But Andi and I were only friends ...

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Andi and I met in August 2004 on the 16th Street Trolley in downtown Denver. He was wearing a casual white button-down shirt with small blue flowers and jeans; I wore a green-colored jean jacket with a printed fitted tee underneath and jeans. We were both in route to our company's offices on Market Street when he introduced himself. Immediately I was taken by his charismatic personality and warm greeting. Ten minutes of small talk as we walked into the building and I knew there was something special about him.

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The chilly cab ride to Midway airport had been an interesting one. The evening before had dumped several inches of ice and snow in Chicago making travel treturous. An airplane skidded off the runway hours before, slamming into a fence (maybe a building?) and a little boy was killed. The accident caused Chicago O'Hare to close for several hours throwing flights in and out of the city in a tailspin.

After a long dinner on the top floor of the Hancock Tower and drinks following at a local oonce-oonce club, we stumbled back to the Hard Rock Hotel in the wee hours of the morning. Andi had advised me not to drink too much that night; we had an early flight to catch to Miami. Besides, we'd have to sneak away from the after-party so no one saw us leave together anyway. But for one reason or another, I didn't listen and could barely hold myself together. Damn Red Bull and vodka drinks, I was always a mess after consuming them.

Our first photo together

As Andi hurriedly packed our bags for the airport (and I laid on the bed half asleep), he was notified our flight to Miami had been canceled. He called the airline, begging and pleading to move us to another flight out that morning. If we didn't get out of Chicago soon, we'd miss our connection with the cruise ship later that day. Since O'Hare was closed, Midway was our only chance in getting out of the city.

Shortly afterwards, we hopped into a cab and headed to the airport. We saw a few co-workers stumbling into the hotel as we loaded our bags into the trunk of the cab. Who were we kidding? People knew we were together, but we really weren't ... yet.

As the cab zoomed down the freeway, the car started to do 360's across several lanes of traffic. That was enough to sober this girl up, that's for sure. We arrived at Midway and Andi told me to wait with our bags. He walked up to the ticket counter and I overheard him begging the worker to book us on a flight. He told her it was important we make it to Florida, that he planned to propose to me (fib) and that the snow storm was ruining his plans. Feeling sorry for him, the airline worker booked us on a different flight to Fort Lauderdale. We would have to take a charter bus to Miami to make our Cruise's afternoon departure. To this day I don't know how Andi managed to get us out of the airport that day; his ability to smooth-talk anyone is uncanny.

We walked to the Fort Lauderdale gate and shoved breakfast sandwiches into our mouths. Andi told me how much he liked me and asked me to be his girlfriend. I'm not sure what he saw in me that morning, but that's history now. I became his girlfriend and a few years later, his wife. I'm so lucky he chose me.

Happy six years, honey. Here's to a lifetime of adventure together.

Bahamas 2005