How I Met Your Mother

So truth be told, first impressions are overrated.

This was apparently clear when I stumbled into Sonia in a drunken haze at a club called Havana on my birthday celebration (and oddly enough her birthday celebration as well) almost 6 years ago. I told her I’d like to hang out with her at a later date when I wasn’t falling over myself and could form coherent sentences. Now any person who’s willing to entertain such offers from a drunken fool either: a) is desperate; b) is sympathetic to people with substance abuse problems; c) is extremely nice and non-judgemental; or d) is smitten by this person’s not-so-apparent inner & outer beauty. I’m pretty sure it’s c) but there’s a slight possibility it’s also d).

So after a few weeks and some time to recover from my friend’s apparent attempts to poison me with alcohol (btw, thanks Tom for driving/carrying me home that night and tucking me into bed), I managed to get Sonia’s email from a mutual friend and started wooing her.

Our first date and my second impression was ironically at a coffee shop called “Second Cup” in Mississauga. Clearly second impressions don’t matter much to Sonia either because I showed up to our date in a pair of old track pants and a sweaty t-shirt after coming straight from my basketball game. Little did Sonia know this was test #2 in my intricate mastermind plan of finding a girl who cared more about the quality of a man’s heart and mind, rather than his ridiculous good looks and financial stability. And she passed with flying colours.

After several dates and a lot of emails back and forth, we realized we very much enjoyed each other’s company and decided to take the next step. I gave her my football jacket and told everyone we were going “steady”. This was particularly a surprise to a lot of our friends who saw us at our first public appearance together at a lounge called Chocolate. This time I wasn’t drunk and was very much the gentleman as I escorted Sonia to a fundraising event held by one of her friends. We had a great time that night as we always do and we’ve been together ever since.

So that’s the “romantic” version of how it all began for us. It’s funny how two people can meet in such odd circumstances and yet make it all happen. Five and a half years later here we are, preparing for our engagement party, picking out tuxedos and wedding dresses and preparing for our wedding. For you single people out there, don’t give up hope, if there’s someone out there for me, there’s got to be someone out there for you.

~K

And now for my version:

Actually, Khiem and I met a few years prior to that fateful night at club Havana. We met as friends of friends, not knowing that something more was in store for us down the line.

My very first memory of Khiem came at a cottage trip organized by the same friend who secretly passed along my email address to Khiem (she is also one of my bridesmaids - Ha). When I arrived I saw a guy I didn’t know standing by his shiny sports car with a ghetto blaster, blaring loud dance music.

(Can you imagine the look on my face at this point in time?)

Although I didn’t talk to Khiem that much during the trip, I nevertheless felt that he had a deeper and more reflective side, as opposed to his outward detachment. Aside from the very first impression, all I remember of him was his love of naps, his competitiveness during a game of Risk and his interest in fishing.

So it was for a few years that Khiem and I would bump into each other very occasionally at get-togethers with our mutual friends. We were both “with other people” during this whole time, and it wasn’t until our separate birthday bashes at Havana did we bump into each other again, this time both single.

And although it’s a good sign that Khiem thinks that I’m a nice, non-judgemental person, I hadn’t actually entertained the idea that Khiem was really serious about hanging out. I didn’t think he would even remember the conversation!

(Can you imagine now what was going through my head? It went something like: You can’t stand up straight and you say you’re going to email me? Riiiight…)

So there I was, a couple of months later, proven wrong when I checked my hotmail and found that a certain someone had actually gotten in touch with me. The romance ensued, and for anyone who knows Khiem even a little bit, it’s true, he is a master of communication via email and msn. There and on our first few dates I found that my instincts were right, that he did have a deeper side, and that he was and is much more than that seemingly “too cool” guy with the sports car.

And the rest is history. Though I’m not too sure what this football jacket business is about.

~sd