And life has never been the same

Do you ever think back about certain days in your life - the ones that start out pretty normal, but then something happens that changes the direction of the rest of your life?

Fifteen years ago today was one of those dates for me. I was working as a reporter at the time. I liked my job but, frustrated by the low pay, had started sending out resume tapes a couple months earlier in hopes of moving to a bigger market. Despite my lack of success with that, I was excited to go to work on this particular day because I was about to start working on a special series showing the training new cops go through when they join the Duluth Police Department.

I walked into the training room in the basement of city hall. Chances are I was lugging a tripod on my shoulder, to help ease the photographer's load, while carrying a notebook or clipboard in my other hand. It seems to me the new officers were sitting at tables that had been set up to form a square, or maybe it was a U-shape, I can't remember exactly. And that is where and when I first laid eyes on one particular man.

A screen shot of the video we shot that day.

I could pretend it was love at first site, but quite honestly, I don't remember anyone in the group standing out to me that first day, or even the first week. By the end of the second week, I'd definitely noticed Jeff, primarily because he was one of the few in the group who agreed to let me interview him. By the end of the month, I had a hunch he was interested in me, but I was dating someone else at the time and so did nothing to encourage him. It wasn't until three months after this fateful day that we went out for the first time. And the rest is history.

Fifteen years later, I'm able to play wonderful mind games with this man. As he got ready for work earlier today, I kissed him and wished him a happy anniversary. He responded with a wide-eyed expression that loosely translates as "Oh crap!" as his mind raced to try and figure out what key date he'd forgotten. Finally he asked, "is today a half anniversary of something?"

I've never really thought about how my life would have turned out if any of those resume tapes had resulted in me leaving the market before I met Jeff. I really don't want to imagine it. Wherever a TV career might have taken me, I doubt it would have been as fulfilling as what I have now.

The kids and I went to a special program at the Children's Museum tonight. On the way home, we stopped and visited Jeff at work. We passed the hallway that leads to the training room. Who would have predicted all those years ago that we'd be standing together so close to where it all began. While trying to keep an eye on two hyped up kids.

Definitely better than anything I could ever have planned.