I met my husband, Rob, on an ordinary summer night in Wichita, Kansas in 1982. The same year as the invention of the internet, the arrival of the McNugget, ET, the moonwalk, Risky Business, the minivan and AOL. I was out with girlfriends at the local college bar. I noticed him across the room and I think he noticed me at the same time. Our eyes kept meeting and each time we locked eyes, I felt an electric current run through me. It felt like lightening striking. When he finally approached me, I felt lit up by that invisible current. I marvel at that random meeting now.

That spark, that current, and that invisible lightening strike was enough to begin a life-long romance. We had known of each other before this encounter. Wichita is a very “small” large town, yet I had no clue about his personality, his preferences or his morals. He is two years older than me and the big brother to a lovely girl in my high school class named Anna. I knew a few of his friends from working at the same pizza place one summer. And that was it. Yet here he was, and I knew meeting him was going to be big. The match had been lit and while we couldn’t predict what would come next, I felt a deep sense of knowing. My soul’s recognition of his soul.

We married on June 7th, 1986. That year was a sad one in many ways…the Chernobyl disaster, the Challenger crash and the beginning of a recession to name a few events. Yet that 105-degree day could not have been a happier one for us. In front of a large group of family and friends, we committed ourselves to each other. It’s a commitment that has survived the test of births, deaths and all the joys and sorrow of life in-between.

It is our 35th wedding anniversary this year, and we have fanned and coddled and protected that spark as if it were the olympic torch. I feel fortunate that he is as deeply invested in our marriage as I am. It takes two as the saying goes. I wish I could understand what causes that spark to happen. I think it’s the same spark that inspires art and novels and great sports moments. I like to think of it as a wink from the divine or a nudge from the universe to go in this direction. Whatever it is, I feel so happy we both felt it and continue to nurture it this many years later. Happy Anniversary to my Rob. Let’s keep it lit for another 35 years.