Recent stories I’ve posted about my experiences with my wife Lucy have got me thinking about the past. Lucy and I met in college and were married shortly after we graduated, and we’ve had an amazing (if sometimes bumpy) relationship. But I did have one or two notable experiences before her…
In high school I was pretty shy. My best friend Gary was the more outgoing of the two of us, and he often took the lead on social activities. Looking back, I think I spent a lot of time in his shadow.
It wasn’t until I got to college that I began to come into my own. I was tall and thin and not completely unattractive. I liked to socialize, and soon I had created a circle of friends that I was comfortable hanging out with—a little bit nerdy, funny, and full of pop-culture references and historical trivia. Our close-knit group consisted of me, Dan, Arnie, and four women—Christine, Lea, Becky, and Hannah. We didn’t become a truly cohesive group until spring semester of sophomore year. The four girls had been roommates since they were freshmen and they sort of adopted us guys.