My first date with my wife was fist fighting at a Taco Bell parking lot
I'm nearing my fifth year anniversary with my wife! Our anniversary is on February 14th (We did not plan this) and I joke that we chose the date it's because we're efficient people.
I met her at a journal club for mathematical biology when we were doing our PhDs. She was sitting at the end of the table. When she's deep in thought, she looks downright intimidating. She criticizes paper so thoroughly. I was fearful of her and boy, did I crush hard on her. To show her my attraction, I ignored her. I refused to even look at her.
Clearly it worked.
Then one week, the entire journal club went to the bar. She approached me. We talked for hours.
She told me, "I like how you announce to everyone you didn't read the paper each week."
Six Miller-Lites in, and I joked that "my future woman" would have to be strong enough to defend our future homestead and our children. This somehow led to us going to the Taco Bell parking lot to fist-fight. We didn't fist fight, honestly, we just talked. But I thought it would be a funny title!
So we started dating. Then COVID happened. Then I had to move to my postdoc in a new city. She followed. She moved to a new postdoc in Boston. I followed. Then we got married! I love being married in Boston. The Boston Marriage does fit us- two women academics trying to live their lives.