What did I do to catch my wife's eye when I first met her?
I put on my Dress Blues.
Get's 'em every time...
Seriously...that about sums it up. I was wandering around one day wondering what to get my parents for Christmas. Both were WWII vets. I drove by an Olan Mills and thought "Hey! They don't have any recent pictures of me! I'll do a portrait in my dress uniform for them!"
So I set up an appointment for December 7th, 1992. Walked in as the last customer of the day just before closing time during a busy holiday period (you know how people in the service industry just LOVE that). Changed into my dress uniform. Did the photoshoot with the lady who would turn out to be my wife years later. Flirted shamelessly with her the entire time.
Came back a few days later to look at the proofs...she wasn't there, but one of the other ladies working there showed me the proofs. Turns out the photographer was a traveling photographer for Olan Mills...she went wherever they needed a photographer...they paid her mileage and hotel for it, too.
Any way, the lady showing me the proofs picked one out and fed me a line of bullsh*t which I naively swallowed: "Would you put your name, address, and phone number on the back of this one? She collects pictures for her professional portfolio and she really likes this one."
Yeah, right...I didn't have a clue the lady was playing matchmaker because I had made an impression on the photographer.
Anyway, several weeks later I got a letter in the mail. Return address with no name on it read "Simpsonville, SC". I remember thinking "Who do I owe money to in Simpsonville? H*ll, were IS Simpsonville?"
Turned out it was the lady photographer. We wrote letters for several weeks before I worked up the nerve to call her. About three months or so later, I drove up to Simpsonville to take her out on a "date". I remember the three hour drive back to Charleston thinking "Man, I'm in trouble. She's just the kind of person I could fall for."
Aaaaaand...I did.
That was 25 years ago when we met and we've been married for 22 of them now.