The Day Vicki and I Met

In the photo above, Vicki and I were visiting Lake Konigsee in southern Germany. We had taken a vacation in Germany in August 1999 to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

I have numerous stories of life with Vicki over the past 19 years. I decided to share one of them tonight. Maybe some of you recall stories involving Vicki and would like to share them as well. If so please e-mail a story to me and I will post it on the blog so others can enjoy the memories.

Here’s the story of the day Vicki and I met.

I first met Vicki on Saturday afternoon February 15, 1987 at Waxie Maxie Records in Falls Church, VA. I remember the moment so vividly that it seems I can just close my eyes and I am back there again. Vicki used to love to tell this story, making sure I did not omit any of it.

I had been working on a crisis project over the weekend in downtown Washington. I left work in the afternoon and headed home to my apartment in Annandale. On the way home I decided to stop by the record store to shop around.

Shortly after I entered the store I noticed a very attractive young lady enter. She looked familiar to me, but I could not quite place her. I wondered: do I work with her? Maybe I went to college with her? Well, I wasn’t sure so I decided to just be bold and ask her. I walked up to her and asked “haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” (I have to issue a danger warning here: you could injure yourself if you fall out of your chair laughing at me. Apparently I was the only person on the planet who was unaware that the phrase “haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” is a common pick-up line.)

She looked at me incredulously for a moment without speaking (As she told it she was in shock that anyone was dumb enough to use that line on her in a record store.) Then, in a truly inspired moment, I asked her which church she attended. Now, I am sure that’s not a common pick-up line. When she answered I discovered we attended the same church, which explains where I had seen her.

Once Vicki established that I was legitimate she began to talk much more openly. We connected instantly and began building a friendship that afternoon. We talked about a wide range of subjects for well over an hour while standing in the middle of the record store. I went home that day just sky-high after meeting Vicki. I later found out she went to her apartment and told her roommate about meeting me too.

Even if I did sound a little foolish at first, I was so glad that I took a risk to introduce myself because I had just met my best friend. The next Christmas Vicki gave me a calligraphy of the words to the James Taylor song “You’ve Got A Friend.” I still have this hanging on my bedroom wall. And the song should be playing on your computer now.

Some people have a saying that beauty is only skin deep. I would phrase this differently. I think beauty runs much deeper than skin. In my view a person may be attractive or unattractive based on external appearances, but once he or she begins to speak my view of the person can change dramatically. Vicki was a beautiful lady with a wonderful, friendly smile. But beyond the external features, Vicki possessed internal beauty. She was one of the most gracious people I have ever met. She was always faithful and fully committed to me and our family. So, when I first saw her in the record store that February day I thought she was attractive. Later, when I really knew her I realized she was beautiful.