Here at Fairfield County Moms Blog, we mostly focus just on the experience of the Mommies in the family. Moms are basically superheroes. However, we wouldn’t be Mommies if we hadn’t met the Daddies. Everyone’s story is different! So, in honor of Father’s Day on June 19, we bring you a brief series from several of our contributors entitled “How I Met Your Father.” Please enjoy!
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Hey kids, so far we’ve covered “How does the baby get in there?” “How was the Earth started?” and, my personal favorite, “Where does poop come from?” It’s only a matter of time before we get to how Mommy and Daddy met. As with all things, there is a simple answer and a more lengthy story.
The simple one: We met in college and took the slow boat to marriage.
The story that goes along with the simple answer is this one….
We both went to DePaul University in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, the best place in the world to go to college…but you probably don’t need to go there, it’s entirely possible that there are too many bars in Lincoln Park. Daddy came from the south side of Chicago (if you ever watch Shameless, that’s your heritage kids!) and Mommy came from idyllic Michigan (cue the Tim Allen voiceover, Mommy may have left when she was 17, but she’s a Michigander forever).
We met by chance through mutual friends; Daddy was starting his third year of college and Mommy was starting her second year. We didn’t have a ton in common, but we sure did think that each other was cute. Daddy worked long hours and went to night classes. Mommy spent a lot of time being a social butterfly and thinking about going to classes. Our personalities complemented each other and we had so much fun together. We rang in the millennium together on December 31, 1999! How cool is that?!
The moment that Mommy really fell for Daddy was at the Spring formal for his fraternity. Mommy wore a fancy dress, borrowed from a friend of course, that she had worn to the previous Spring formal when she had gone with several friends. Upon seeing her, Daddy said, “Wow, YOU’RE the girl in the blue dress!” Kids, there is no better way to complement a lady than to let her know that you noticed her, even if it is one year later. Mommy was a smitten kitten.
Did it last? No. Daddy graduated and Mommy had one year left…that can be a big difference in college time; you’ll see one day. We took a year and a half intermission. Was it awful? Yes. Was it necessary for us to become more well-rounded adults? Yes. As an adult, you sometimes have to make some pretty tough decisions. Daddy started working with a big company and got serious about his career. Mommy got her act together, finally declared a major, graduated, and got an apartment in the city with her favorite lady friends. Being 2002, we all fancied ourselves to be the Chicago version of Carrie Bradshaw…but let’s be honest, we were all Charlottes.
How did we come back together? Again, by chance. The universe was in our favor! It’s worthy of a Ryan Reynolds style Rom Com. Side Note: Mommy will always think that Daddy is cuter than Ryan Reynolds.
The future for Mommy and Daddy has been a whirlwind, thankfully we wore our seatbelts and held hands. It’s hard to summarize, but here goes: relocation from Chicago to Connecticut for Daddy’s new job, a million study hours logged for Daddy’s CFA certification, graduate school for Mommy, MARRIAGE! (only seven years after our first date), second marriage! (yes, Mommy and Daddy had one beach wedding and one Church wedding, we are seriously married), layoff from job, commuting to NYC, relocation to Chicago, purchase of first home, doctorate program for Mommy, first baby, sleepless nights, second baby, running on fumes, starting a company in NYC, relocation back to Connecticut, third baby….we like to live on the edge. Mommy and Daddy have been together for 17 years and life together has only gotten better with age. It’s hard to keep communication working with children, jobs and hobbies, but we put in the work. Do we fail? You betcha. But we do our best.
So many details have been left out. Life is intense and fantastic, but rarely perfect. We think it’s best if you grab it and live to the fullest. We have done our best to raise you with a solid foundation of values and ethics, but it’s a tough world out there. It will probably beat you up and throw you some curveballs. Be open to new experiences and challenges, because you never know when you will meet your person. We hope that you will find an amazing partner to navigate the challenges with you. Of course, Mommy and Daddy are literally your biggest fans and only want the best for you. We might be on a Caribbean island enjoying empty nesting life, but we are always here for you.
With love,
Mommy and Daddy
To read more in the series, How I Met Your Father click here.
