I thought you might enjoy seeing this photo of the day I met my husband. It was July 4, 1994 – as you can see on the date stamp – and we were at a party in Ocean Beach thrown our friend Kathy. That, my friends, is a younger version of our new neighbor and old friend, Rick, on the right.

Rick and I had been working at our new jobs for less than a year. We drove out to Kathy’s house (which was tiny and magical and a block from the beach) together. The party was full of fellow employees of the Old Globe and also actors and designers who were working on shows that summer. Don was in town to play Malvolio in Twelfth Night.

A bit of back story: A year earlier, I had flown out to San Diego to interview for a faculty position at The Old Globe/University of San Diego. It was an intense 2 days filled with interviews at the University and at the Globe. I was exhausted. Kathy, who was a wonderful actress that I’d met when she came to teach a class at Boston University, took me under her wing. She was that way, our Kathy. (Sadly, she passed away a few months ago.) She was performing in Morning’s at Seven  at the Globe and got me a ticket for the matinee, which I watched and enjoyed. There was a guy in the cast who played a character named Homer and I thought he was very good. I remember looking at his headshot in the program and thinking that he looked interesting. His name was Don Sparks. Fast forward to a year later and at Company Call – when all the visiting artists gather and are introduced – there he was again, sitting just across the aisle from me. He was called up to the stage that day by Jack O’Brien and awarded the honor of Associate Artist. His acceptance speech was funny and self-deprecating.

So, there he was at Kathy’s party. I wasn’t working on his show, I was coaching an Irish play, and I was hanging out with those actors and with Rick. Every time I walked into the living room, this guy smiled at me. Every time. He made a point of leaning forward to catch my eye. I am usually shy about these things, but I finally bit the bullet and went over to him and introduced myself. We sat down on that sofa you see there and we chatted with each other. Rick eventually joined us.

And so began a conversation that has never stopped.

Look at our body language! We were already smitten.

We talked about – and I’m not kidding – how we couldn’t believe we were 43 and 41, respectively, with comments like, “How did we get so old???”

We were children.

Our friend, Jonathan McMurtry, took this picture and years later, slipped it into my mail slot at the Globe. What a treasure it is; the exact moment when we met.

Check out my red socks! Don still has that shirt and usually wears it on this day, but he’s in Washington, DC and it’s here somewhere. I still have that sweatshirt and wear it often.

It goes without saying that I’d love to be that thin again, but that’s not going to happen. Sigh.

On this exact date, four years later, Don proposed to me. And we got married three months later, in October.

Happy 24th, my love.

Make that nineteen years of wedded bliss.

We were (relatively) young whippersnappers, weren’t we?

Seriously, the wisest decision I’ve ever made was to marry this man. I had no intention of ever being married, was happily single…and then he walked into my life. Suddenly I was faced with a choice; avoid commitment, which was my previous M.O., or embrace it, despite the fear. I chose to embrace it and everything I worried about; would I feel smothered? would I have space? would I get bored with him as I had everyone else? would I lose my independence? – all of it fell away into nothingness.

The truth: I found an extraordinary man. Even in the midst of my fears, I knew that. I still know that. Every. Single. Day. And there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t thank God for bringing him into my life.

We met on July 4th. Four years later he proposed on July 4th. And the following October, in Nevada City, California, we were married.

I’ve never been one to disparage my husband, or to ‘commiserate’ with other women about my spouse. I have too much respect for him to do that. And why would I? As far as I’m concerned, I found the best partner in life I could have ever hoped for.

We’re in different parts of the country today, but we’ll celebrate when I get to New Orleans. We’ll have a lovely dinner on his day off, which is the 23rd. I mean, how romantic is New Orleans? Lucky us!

Happy Thursday.