Shannon and I met at an academic conference at Big Cedar Lodge in
Branson
,
Missouri
in June of 2002. I was completing my second year at the
University
of
Pittsburgh
and she was finishing up her master’s degree in northern
California
and getting ready to start the doctoral program in communication disorders at
San Diego
State
and the
University
of
California San Diego
. She was giving a poster on a topic that I was interested in, and I went over and did my best to impress her. A group of us went to dinner afterwards, and even though she claims to have had no idea I was flirting with her the whole time, we ended up spending a good bit of the evening sitting by the lake talking about all the things people talk about while they’re working up the nerve for that first kiss. When the conference was over, she went back to
California
and I came back to
Pittsburgh
, and the daily phone calls and emails commenced shortly thereafter. By the end of the summer, she had come out to
Pittsburgh
for a visit and I had spent a weekend with her in
Berkeley.
.
We got engaged the following summer, and have managed to see each other about every 6 weeks or so since. Also, we had five months together last summer when
Shannon
got a clinical fellowship position at the VA hospital in
Pittsburgh
. At present, she’s starting work on her comprehensive exams at SDSU/UCSD and expects to be in
San Diego
for another year or two. I’m currently working at the VA in
Pittsburgh
while I finish my degree. Our plan is to spend the month of October together in
Pittsburgh
after we get back from our honeymoon, and then to continue our cross-country commuting until
Shannon
finishes her program. We’ll probably make our home in
Pittsburgh
for a few years before looking to move closer to family and milder winters.
Our families have given us endless support and encouragement in our lives together. Although the geographic distance makes things difficult at times, they have helped us tp realize and strengthen our love and commitment to one another, we’re very grateful to them for that.
