Our story:
When Frank Mitchell (the program director for WFMD-AM) introduced us in January 2007, little did we know that we would get married more than two and a half years later (Oct. 16, 2009). That spring semester, our senior years at Hood College (mine) and Mount Saint Mary's University (his), I had two internships. One was with the newsroom at WFMD-AM in Frederick, Md.
Patrick had two or three years under his belt at the station, and thus trained all of the newbies. He was a radio board operator at WFMD-AM — meaning he inserted commericals during games. I was an intern in the news department, so I didn't work with him until I was hired, the summer after I graduated. He taught me how to board op during games.
He was a good teacher, but I never did get the hang of running the sound. Almost every time I was in the studio, Patrick had to come in and help me. The number of times I had extended live silence on-air must have driven Frank crazy (every time the radio air is silent for more than 30 seconds or so, Frank gets a page)! Luckily for me, Patrick usually worked the football games on WFRE-FM while I was in the WFMD-AM studio (the studios are literally right next to each other).
We'd chat and laugh about all kinds of stuff, but it never got all that personal or romantic. We were professionals, so we respected certain boundaries.
During my last month at the station, Patrick and I chatted more than before. I think it was because it was that time of year when the football and baseball seasons overlap. He was boarding the Redskins games and I the Orioles. At the same time, I'd gotten a dog, Cayenne (sounds like the spice), and he liked to come in and see her.
The baseball games had long stretches without a commercial break, so I didn't have a lot to do. I brought my laptop and watched a TV show or movie while I knitted and occasionally stopped to insert a commercial or two. During one shift, he watched "Weeds" with me and was hooked on the show immediately.
I searched for newsroom positions since my graduation. Once offered a position at The Frederick News-Post, I put in my two week notice at the station. But I didn't like the idea of not keeping in touch with Patrick, he'd always made me laugh and any time we ran in to each other, the shift we worked seemed all the shorter. I invited him over for more "Weeds" and some pizza.
It wasn't a date.
But the not-date turned in to a real date!
We had such a great time. It's like once we were out of the office, we could finally relax. That was Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007.
Our second date was that Saturday. Just before he got there, Cayenne got in a dog fight and I hadn't noticed her ear was badly damaged. He came over for lunch and we started to eat, but he noticed her ear so I rushed her to the animal hospital. That evening Patrick had a shift at the radio station and I was stuck in Frederick waiting for Cayenne to get out of surgery. I headed over to the station to surprise him and we chatted. It was great, I wasn't a nervous wreck about Cay because he kept me laughing.
From then on, we were practically inseparable.
Who knew?