In this informal interview, Speaker B recounts the story of meeting his future wife Krista. They first saw each other at a bar, but only connected two years later after he ended a prior relationship. Their first date led to a rapid series of outings, and within six weeks Krista’s friend announced she was "the guy I'm going to marry," prompting an immediate proposal. Their families, especially Speaker B’s parents, reacted with horror at the speed of the engagement. The couple reflects on the impulsiveness of their early marriage, noting they have been together for 28 years, and now advise others not to rush engagement, wishing they had lived together first. The dialogue is conversational, peppered with humor and hindsight, highlighting themes of love at first sight, familial expectations, and the value of patience in relationships.
I heard that you knew you wanted to marry Krista after a very short time dating. Tell us about that. How did you know?
Yeah, so I met Krista through mutual friends. She walked in at a bar. It was TGI Friday and she was walking by. I was like, damn. So we went on our first date 2 years later. So I saw her.
Wait, why? Why 2 years later?
Because I had a girlfriend and I was in a relationship and she was a single mom. Okay, so she got pregnant So then our mutual friend, I broke up with this other person I was dating and I said, you know what, I'm gonna make a phone call. And so I called my mutual friend and I said, that girl, you know, like, I don't know, Mike, but we'll give you her phone number. And I called her.
Out of the blue?
Out of the blue.
I said, I'm this guy that you met at a bar 2 years ago.
And we actually ran into each other like 2 or 3 more times.
Okay. Okay.
I'm like, so you know my name? But I was wondering if you want to go out, have a cup of coffee or for dinner. And she's like, yeah, I know who you are. She's like, let's do it. So we go out. Krista dresses in a dress that's up to her chin. It's like, it's like Victorian era.
Yeah. She's like, you ain't seeing nothing, pal.
We went out for dinner and it was great. We went on a few more dates and we were 6 weeks A month and a half. We go out for a date and I overhear she talks. Her friend shows up who we both know now, but her friend shows up and I was just about to walk to the bathroom or something. And the friend's like, oh, how's it going? And Krista says, I overhear, says, this is the guy I'm going to marry.
Get out of here.
To Liz.
That's so funny. Yeah.
And I hear it and then I'm like, this is the woman I want to marry. So I proposed to her. I got back to the table. I said, I like us. I want to get married.
My God. This was a month and a half.
Engaged after 6 weeks.
Oh, we're married. Were your parents horrified? Were they like, what? What are you doing, Mike? So, yeah. So when I told my parents, They were horrified.
Are you crazy? And I said yes. And then my mom says we got engaged after 8 weeks. So my father and mother got engaged after 8 weeks and were married for 65, 60 years or more before my father passed. My wife and I are married 28 years now. There you go.
There you go. When you know, you know. Christopher said the same thing.
He said, you know, you know. Yeah, but it's funny. We tell our kids, if you plan to get engaged, Don't rush it because we both say we're idiots. We had no idea. Yeah, right. What were we doing? What were we doing? And there was a lot to figure— there's still more to figure out, but there's a lot to figure out. That's true. I think we wish in retrospect that we lived together for a period of time.
Yeah. Yeah.
Just didn't play out that way.
But you know what? To what end? It worked out. Exactly.
