Jason, 34, was from Buffalo, N.Y. and Rachel, 28, was from Lincolnton. But the two found common ground and married May 10, 2008, and say their 2-year- old son, Nathan Alexander, got the best attributes of both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Rachel tells their story.
Make it $50: We met one night at Coyote Joe’s in November 2003. At the time, Jason was this spikey-haired guy who told me at least five times how beautiful I was. He offered me $20 to kiss one of my friends, so I had to think long and hard about whether I should give him my correct phone number. Luckily for him, he was really cute, and I knew I’d made the right decision when he called me at 2:30 a.m. to make sure I’d made it home safe.
Lunch date: For our first actual date we met for lunch at Stool Pigeons. I was worried he wouldn’t think I was as beautiful as his beer goggles had led him to believe. But we started dating and two months later for Valentine’s Day he made me a CD of songs he’d handpicked, all of which had the word “Love” in them.
“That” couple: In 2005 we went to Buffalo to spend Christmas with his family and he surprised me with a side trip to Niagara Falls. They had fabulous Christmas light shows and we were having so much fun watching and taking pictures. We were getting ready to leave when he got down on one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I was so shocked, the first thing out of my mouth was “Oh my God, are you serious?” He laughed and we hugged, kissed, cried and laughed some more. We became that couple that people were happily pointing at, which is pretty much every girl’s dream.
A one-time thing: We haven’t been back to Coyote Joe’s since the night we met, but we both look back fondly at how we met and feel in love. And no, I did not kiss my friend for $20 that night. I wanted $50. Hilary Trenda
TELL US YOUR LOVE STORY
Email htrenda@charlotteobserver.com. Type “love story” in subject field. Include full names, ages, address, daytime phone number, wedding date, photo. To read past Love Stories: www.charlotteobserver.com/love.
