As February 14 approaches, wholesome love stories are being celebrated, and preparations for Valentine’s Day have begun. With couples all over taking time to reflect on their relationship and how grateful they are for their partners, it is always fun to take a trip down memory lane. Whether it was a glance in a coffee shop or a social media match, every couple has its own story on how they met their significant other. Around NDB, many members of the staffulty have their own special stories as well.
English teacher Jennifer Dorn, an adored member of NDB, has a story that ended up full circle. She met her husband at a wedding and was slightly uninterested, but as they got to talking, everything began to fall into place.
“Although it may sound cliché, I met my husband at my best friend’s wedding in San Francisco at the Omni. Since he didn’t talk much and relied on his friend to speak for him, my first impression was questionable. Luckily, it was a weekend full of parties, which gave me time to get to know him better. I guess you could say he grew on me because when he asked me out the next week, I agreed to go,” said Dorn.
Although Dorn had her meet-cute at a wedding and immediately had chemistry, some staffulty can relate to the classic slow-burning storyline. Barbara Tauskey, the student supervision coordinator at NDB, has a story that almost perfectly follows this path. She and her husband have been married for 35 years, and she was more than happy to share her story.
Tauskey shared, “I had a friend when I was living in San Francisco, and her husband had a former college roommate who lived in San Mateo. They had an idea and thought I would like to meet him, so they set it up for me to invite him over for dinner. He showed up, I made him dinner, and the rest is history, although it did take him six years to ask me to marry him.”
Some of the best love stories in movies come simply from two people being in the right place at the same time. But something even better than seeing it in rom-coms is when it happens in real life. Director of Educational Accessibility, Arlene Empleo, had a rather cinematic story of how she met her husband.
“I met my husband at SF State in a summer program. We were both working for the same summer bridge program. He was a teacher, and I was an RA. He ended up volunteering to help the students put together a journal for the program, and of course, I was the R.A. moderator for that group. He walked in, and suddenly I didn’t hear anything else around me; all I saw was him. Even the kids thought he was cute. When the kids finally went to sleep, we went salsa dancing, and funny enough, I think I stayed with him because he could really dance,” stated Empleo.
As Valentine’s Day gets nearer, these stories are proof that love is everywhere and different in every way. From dinner and salsa classes to weddings, there are wholesome love stories all over NDB. All of these stories not only spread extra Valentine’s Day spirit but also demonstrate how the best love stories can begin in unexpected ways.
