I met Buzz in August 1997. I remember the exact moment like it was two weeks ago. I had been moving out of my ex's apartment all day. I was hot and sweaty, but ready to celebrate my newfound freedom. My friends from Disney invited me to join them at a bar on I-Drive, Friday's Front Row. I had just turned 21, so I thought it would be cool to go out for a drink. My coworkers were already there when I arrived. I had to walk around the bar to find an empty seat. I kept glancing at the bartender. When I sat down Danny introduced me to Buzz (the bartender). I clearly remember Buzz wiping his hands on his black apron so he could shake my hand. He has nice eyes, I thought. He asked me what I wanted to drink. I told him something fruity. Minutes later, I had a large yellow frozen drink in front of me. I took one sip and gagged. Bananas! I hate banana flavored anything, except a raw banana. Buzz apologized and took the drink back. I can't remember what he made me next but I must have liked it because the next moment I was drunk. The night digressed into a laughing and talking blur. I found myself resting my head in my hand with my elbow on the bar. Buzz was talking to me. He had come around almost completely out of the horseshoe bar. I must have told him I was a computer science major because he was describing his homemade PC to me. I didn't understand a lot of it. There were lots of numbers and I was only in my first semester. He looked at me and said, "I'm boring you, aren't I?" I said, "No, it turns me on." We exchanged email addresses and I gave him the address to my very juvenile website. 2am came too quickly. Suddenly I found myself on the curb outside Front Row. We must have been there for a while because Buzz had finished his clean up and walked out the front door. I walked straight up to him and grabbed the ponytail of hair sticking out of the motorcycle helmet he had in his hand. I thought, this guy must like Monty Python. And I would have asked him for a ride home, but I didn't have a helmet. I was too drunk to drive. Disappointed I got in my beat-up car and drove to my ex's. He lived much closer than my new place. I passed out on the couch. The next morning I went home to the place I was sharing with my friend, Cathy. I told her I met the man I was going to marry.
After several great emails from Buzz, he told me that he and his girlfriend were going on vacation. "Girlfriend", I sighed, "Damn it!" It would be years before we were both free to see each other, August of 1999 to be specific. The rest is history. I know, I know, there are much more crazy stories of our first dates and such, but I have to preserve some of the mystery.