Story
“When you want something, the whole universe conspires in order for you to achieve it” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
🌿 The first time I saw him, I was 15 years old starting my new job at a small shop called Broadway Dreams. I remember entering the store and being surprised to see a man standing at the back counter of a dance retail store! I thought, Oh wow, he’s cute. I quickly found out he was 9 years older than me. Oh well! He became a great friend and support system as I followed my dreams over the years.... He always showed up, whether in person or through a helpful message. I eventually went off to college and then traveled abroad after joining a professional dance company called MOMIX. He was growing a business in a new town ... my hometown. And I often did wonder, would I ever be able to find someone like him?
😎 Jaime and I had an instant connection the moment we met at that little dance store in Kingston, Pennsylvania. We used to chat for hours as I was helping to build an online dancewear business from my very sophisticated office at Broadway Dreams ... the dressing room! I was often interrupted while staring down at my laptop by leotard and tutu requests and had to quickly vacate my post! I would tell Jaime stories of traveling overseas as I had been lucky enough to earn an international fellowship at Hamilton College. I always encouraged her to find ways to see more of the world outside of our local area ... and boy did she do just that!
🌿 More than six years later on a day in 2007 I was traveling back to the valley before my next tour with MOMIX. As I was driving I tried to call my 'Mom', but my bluetooth headphones mistakenly heard 'Marv' (which was Christopher's college nickname) instead!!! Everyone at the store, including me, had always called him Marv! I hung up immediately when I heard his voicemail. I didn't even realize I had his number and we must have exchanged it years before when he was helping me with a computer problem! ... but moments later he called back! Oh boy! I apologized for bothering him and jumbled my words. He slowed me down and asked if I was in town and if I'd like to go out for a drink to catch up. He said, "You are legal now, right?" hahaha I was! That is a line I will never forget and we laugh about it to this day. He asked politely as my mother would wish. I called my mom back to tell her what happened and that my phone messed up and called Marv instead of Mom. She told me to go for it! So we met, and we ended up talking for 6 hours straight that night at the bar.......
😎 Marv always seemed like such an odd nickname, but it really grew on me. I had friends in college and then in PA that didn't even know my actual name was Chris! It's so interesting how one small decision or one apparent accidental event in your life can impact the rest of it so meaningfully. That has become a theme in our relationship as you will see! After we met at the bar, I told Jaime, "You have stayed the same and yet changed in all of the right ways. Let's not let another 6 years go by before we see each other again." Jaime left the next day to go back on tour, but this time she was touring a bit closer in the US. We were still just friends because of other relationships, but we could both feel the electricity.
🌿 The US Tour happened, and while we were traveling in Skokie Illinois of all places somehow flowers were magically delivered to my bus when I was going through a difficult time. Christopher has a knack for surprising me when I least expect it. I didn’t even know he knew what city I might be in! I eventually finished the tour and once again found myself making the drive back to the Valley from Connecticut.
😎 I was up in Vermont visiting my sister at Law School the day before and woke up at 5 am that day in over a foot of snow to drive back to the Valley for a men’s league basketball championship! (We take those men's leagues seriously!) After miraculously extricating the snowy car from the long driveway, I was also now coincidentally on my way back to the valley. Jaime and I began texting and it was fun to learn she was also heading back home. As it was safer to chat on the phone, I called her … this time on purpose! The conversation was flowing, we were laughing and joking, and losing ourselves in the moment. As I merged onto I-84 and looked up, I immediately recognized the Ford Escape already traveling west … then I recognized the driver in an adorable little sun hat... and WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH JAIME WE LITERALLY MERGED ONTO THE SAME ROAD RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER hundreds of miles from home. I would not mistake her profile anywhere.
The universe was apparently still conspiring.
🌿 I think we finally got the message and we officially began dating after that! In 2009, I moved to the city to follow my actual Broadway Dreams. Christopher was growing and expanding his business back in PA and traveled often to visit me. In 2011, over 10 years ago, sadly we separated because there was much growth to be had for both of us following our various career dreams.
😎 Jaime is a bit more polite here, but I was frankly a bit too immature despite being older, and hadn't been ready to settle down. For those of you that know me well, I have always been a little late on arrival! ;-) Our time apart, however, was necessary. I have always known that Jaime was my person, but sometimes you have to let birds fly. We both grew in such wonderful ways, followed our professional dreams, but also seemed to be unknowingly running in parallel. I never let go of her completely. Despite moving twice and selling my home in Pennsylvania, I never released any of the items we shared together from all of those years ago.
🌿 Fast forward to 2020 when the pandemic hit. I got one of those universal taps to reach out and make sure Christopher's family was ok. I texted him asking about his parents ... and sure enough a response came back. Christopher informed me that one of his parents had just been diagnosed with Covid THAT DAY and had not shared the news with anyone yet. A difficult, but universal sign yet again. Both of our families, like many of yours, battled through Covid. We are lucky that those family members mentioned earlier regained their health. The conversation continued and Christopher shared with me that he just made some major personal changes. He couragiously left both his home and his job. He was vulnerable in ways I had not seen before, yet confident and open for the future. Christopher's own words played back in my head as I felt as though he had stayed the same, yet changed in all the right ways.
😎 We finally agreed to get together. We were both scared of what might happen. I was terrified. I knew I could not undo seeing her.
🌿😎 We could no longer deny the lifelong forces bringing us together any more. We met back in our hometown in PA outside under a tree. The moment was just as you might imagine it. All the pieces, all of the love, all of the struggles, all of the growth, all of the experiences, and all of the "luck" seemed to merge and flood into that one moment. We both knew that instant that things were finally right and never going back.
... and we now invite you to meet us all under the Oak Tree at Aldie Mansion in Doylestown PA to celebrate this moment together with us.