It All Starts with the Sunglasses

Sophie's existence can be credited to a pair of sunglasses.

On April 20, 2002, Doug and I were both working in Maxey Computer Lab at Whitman. We had mutual friends, but that was the extent of our relationship. On that particular morning, we made small talk in the computer lab, but Doug quickly left to go do something fun and cool, while I stayed to read and write (my idea of cool). After he left, I realized that he had forgotten his pair of sunglasses. I sent the following email (I've kept it in my scrapbook):

SUBJECT: your sunglasses...

Dude---I think you left your sunglasses in the Maxey computer lab so I grabbed them and have them...if they aren't yours, then I have a free pair of sunglasses that you can take if you want them...

E

(I knew those were his sunglasses, but I worked really hard to make sure that email appeared casual and ambivalent!!) He replied to the email, and--in true Doug fashion--the email was flirtatious and mildly inappropriate. Therefore, I will not be directly quoting his email in this family blog!

Although we didn't begin dating until the summer, those lost sunglasses began the attraction.

Since that first email correspondence, Doug has probably lost two dozen pairs of sunglasses. There are times that his forgetfulness annoys and frustrates me. ("You lost ANOTHER pair?" "We have to stop at another gas station on this road trip to buy sunglasses?" "Didn't you JUST buy some last week?") But, Doug always reminds me that if it weren't for his AMAZING ABILITY to lose sunglasses, I never would have written that first email.

So, our love story starts with a pair of sunglasses. Now, Sophie has her own pair to lose quickly like her father or to keep for years like her mother :)