This story began to develop during a recent cabinet refinishing project. Unlike painting a room in a house, cabinet projects are time intensive. The multiple stages of taking off doors, knobs & hardware, sanding, priming, 1st & 2nd coating and then rehanging the doors provides plenty of time to get to know the family that is transforming their kitchen. Check out the pictures below to see the process on this particular project and read below to hear the story I learned along the way.
I met the couple in this story nearly 20 years ago. My first born was still a toddler, so I was still too young and naive to know the good, bad & ugly of kid’s sports. His dad, however, coached a travel team which allowed me to meet Oscar & Cindy because they were knee deep in travel baseball with their youngest son. I remember always enjoying my time spent around them, but the path of parenting and life in general made our encounters lessen over the years. Fast forward to 2019, I began a new job at a nice place. (In other words, my new employer did not assign me with Staple Projects). On Day 1, Oscar walked in the back door of the office, and I was officially a co-worker with my baseball acquaintance from a few decades before.
Per usual with co-workers, Oscar and I have exchanged small talk over the last couple of years about plans he and Cindy have, like trips to see their sons. One day the convo turned to a kitchen remodel. This led to my 1st day in their kitchen, which happened to be the couple’s 32nd wedding anniversary.
My longest relationship to date is 8 years, so when a relationship has lasted more than 10 years, it catches my attention. The couple figured out something I haven’t yet. I thought over my recent talks with Oscar and it was clear that he is a family man who has one constant goal: to make his wife happy. Every time I had been in the couple’s presence, they were respectful to each other. I knew that I wanted to find out how their start came to be and write a ‘‘How They Met’ story.
When I was back over at the house to paint facings, I asked Cindy how she met Oscar. She remembered it was March 22nd. She was attending UIndy and the one thing on her mind was the upcoming Spring Break and her planned vacation in Florida. She and a friend were in the parking lot of the Kroger by The County Line Mall on the Southside of Indy. They noticed two young men on motorcycles. Cindy had just gotten her contacts & had a nice base tan started for the beach (like us Indiana folk have to do). After some introductions and flirting, the 4 went for a ride. Needless to say, Cindy was on Oscar’s bike. After the ride, the girls were delivered back to their car. No numbers were exchanged.
Within a week or so, Cindy & Oscar’s paths crossed again while driving around on ‘The Strip’ on US31. After another motorcycle ride, Oscar recognized what I like to call Quintessential Timing. He felt there was a reason why they had never laid eyes on each other in 20 years and now couldn’t stop running into each other. (Cindy may have referred to it as “stalking” or at least having her eyes peeled for two men on familiar motorcycles.) He asked her if they should go out, she asked him when he was going to tell her his real name. Oscar convinced Cindy he hadn’t lied about his name and one date led to more. The couple married on March 25, 1989, exactly 3 years & 3 days after they met.
When the cabinet project was completed, I was finally able to ask Oscar at the office for his memory of their first encounter. His eyes lit up, he smiled and then proceeded to tell me nearly word for word what I had heard from his wife just a few weeks before.
I learned a few fun facts about the couple along the way. For starters, two airplanes collided and debris from the crash landed in their yard and burned a house they used to live in. The house they currently live in is across the street from the house Cindy grew up in. She always loved the house and knew she wanted to live in it. After the aforementioned fire, the house she loved was on sale, and that whole Quintessential Timing thing came into play again.
Oscar & Cindy make it look extremely easy to start their day before the crack of dawn, which is a task I find nearly as impossible as a 3 decade relationship. Cindy said to me she didn’t understand how her husband had put up with her through all of the years. This struck me as such a humble thing to say. Oscar said when Cindy wants something, she’s never rude or mean, but rather just kindly persistent. Both of those statements are helping guide me to my first 10 year mark.