Our Story
Rebecca says:
It's 1 am in the science library sometime in January 2001. I've got my pillow and my organic chemistry books and my roommate and I are studying away for our "Orgo" final to take place later that morning. In one of the many "study breaks" of the evening, I check my email. I come back to Jane (my roommate) and say, "aha! he likes me." This conclusion was reached after at most three email exchanges.
See, Scott was a teaching fellow in a class I took in the fall (no, no-he wasn't the one grading my homework). So happens, I was a teaching fellow for another class. Turns out we were both invited to teach a course on "Undergrads Teaching Undergrads." The big email exchange in the library regarded where we were going to meet to discuss our lesson plan for the course. Out of options, such as library, dining hall, campus social center (Loker commons)-Scott decided we should meet at a romantic chocolate shop for coffee. Yup, he had a thing for me. And I liked it.
At the chocolate shop, we couldn't stop talking---mind you, none of the conversation had anything to do with our lesson plan. Besides appreciating our riveting conversation, I found him quite cute. My roommates were conveniently gathered all in one room when I returned from "the meeting," and I said to them, "he's the one-I could marry him." They looked at me kind of funny and then went back to whatever they were doing. Love at first sight---thanks to the cliche gods for such a perfect line!
Senior year ended, and Scott and I remained good friends. In September of 2001, I packed up and moved to Southern California. Within a week of my moving, I get a call from --- guess who? Scott! He is in Northern California and wants to visit me and a few other friends in the LA area. Basically, he came to see me, and we agreed that we both had a thing for one another. Within a few months of dating, I applied to transfer to Stanford (only 15 min away from Scott). In June, I moved to Stanford. In August, I'm engaged to the perfect man.
It is a blessing to have found my Bashert (the one meant to be), and look forward to many years of happiness and love we bring one another.
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Scott says:
The first time my eyes gazed upon her I knew that she was the most beautiful woman I would ever meet. We were meeting for 'coffee' to go over a seminar we were co-teaching at Harvard our senior year. We both ordered the hot chocolate from Burdick's, at which Rebecca will point out, I didn't offer to pay for her drink. We spent the entire hour chatting pleasantly and accomplished no work. It was pretty obvious at that point we were meant for each other. Before Rebecca had to leave to watch Ally McBeal, we agreed to get together again and at some point to play Lazer Tag. I still owe her a match!
The rest of the semester we remained friends, and, in an action I would regret for months, never got up the courage to ask for a real relationship. I almost lost the single most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me. After graduation, Rebecca remained in my thoughts every day.
After graduation I moved out to Mountain View and started working for Tellme. One day, while bored with not much work to do, I saw Rebecca logged onto AOL Instant Messenger and simply had to talk to her. I AIMed her and asked what was up. She said she couldn't talk but that she was about to get her SCUBA certification. "AHA!" I thought . . . something in common that I can strike up a conversation with her about. And so we briefly talked about SCUBA and that she was starting at Caltech in Pasadena a few weeks later.
A few days later I was AIMing with Rebecca again and told her that I was planning a vacation to Los Angeles to visit some of my other friends, and suggested that we meet up for lunch or dinner. I missed her very much and was hoping she would let me spend some time with her to reacquaint ourselves. Rebecca agreed and the first weekend in October 2001, for $39, I took a Southwest flight to LAX where I had to catch a 40 minute Super Shuttle ride to get to Caltech in Pasadena. We spent the weekend visiting The Getty Museum, shopping on Rodeo Drive (where one of the sales clerks asked if we were dating and we both shrugged, smiled, looked at each other uneasily, and laughed it off), and having dinner with her parents and Ian (her brother). But most importantly I got up the nerve to ask Rebecca what I hadn't had the nerve to ask her in Cambridge: would she like to date me? For months I had known that Rebecca was my one true love, and I didn't want to lose her. She agreed, and 10 months later, on August 3rd, 2002 we were engaged. The rest, as they say, is just details.
Rebecca is indeed my one true love. Dodi Li, Va'ani Lo. To my fiancée and soul mate: I love you with all my heart and being.
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