Daddy Knows Less: For This I Am Forever Thankful

"How do I know when it's love? I can't tell you but it lasts forever." -Van Halen

When do you know the person you're with is the one with whom you want to spend the rest of your life? I knew early on in my relationship with My Director, but our first Thanksgiving clinched it.

Hall of Languages
Syracuse University

It was 15 years ago. We were in college at Syracuse. We had been dating just three months. I knew earlier in the semester that she was "the one," but when I took her temperature to see if she felt the same way, I didn't get the response I was looking for.

November rolled around, and the usual talk of people going home for Thanksgiving. I was working at a radio station in town at the time, and graduating in December. (I wrote about the reason why I graduated a semester late here.) I was hoping to get a full-time job at the station upon graduating, eventually getting an on-air gig. (That was my goal at the time). Bonus: If they hired me full-time I'd be able to stay in Syracuse, where the new found love of my life still had another year and a half of school left.

So I agreed to work on Thanksgiving. I was bummed, but I felt like I had reached the point in my life where I had to start thinking about my career. And my career involves working on holidays, especially when you're low man on the totem poll. I'd be alone in Syracuse on Thanksgiving.

The Scene of the First Thanksgiving

That's when My Director made the unexpected decision that not only told me she was "the one" for me, but that I was also the one for HER. She decided to skip her family Thanksgiving and stay in Syracuse with me. Even though I didn't ask. Even though it meant a turkey lunch at Perkins, and an afternoon and evening studying in an off-campus apartment while I worked. She made that sacrifice so I wouldn't be alone, even though it meant she would be alone when I was working.

The next day, I drove her home to her parents' house in Pennsylvania. The first of many long car rides we would share, as pilot and co-pilot. One act of love to last a lifetime.