First, I want to give an introduction on how we got to where we are currently by providing some background to our story. My husband and I met in 2011 in St. Louis when we were playing on separate sand volleyball recreational leagues. I was recently out of a 6 year broken relationship when one of my childhood girlfriends asked me to play on her team for the summer. Of course, I could not turn her down and at this point in time it was what I needed to move on and get my life in the direction it needed. I was 24 yrs old, finishing up my Master’s degree at St. Louis University in Occupational Therapy, and unsure of the road ahead of me. That evening in April we met by chance, and if anyone knows my husband, he is anything but quiet or shy, especially when there is alcohol involved. On the night of our first game of the season I happened to be wearing a gray Mizzou T-shirt (this was his alma mater, and I can still remember the exact design of the t-shirt I was wearing). I was focused on getting to know some of my new teammates. It was a great evening of enjoying cold beer and laughs, for summer would be soon approaching. This evening, one of the members of the opposing team (my now husband) asked if I went to Mizzou since I was wearing the shirt. Of course, I said, well I did my freshman year and then dropped out to figure out what I wanted to do with my career path, etc. I also mentioned that I currently attend SLU and will be graduating with my Master’s in OT next year, but the rest of that night this guy, Chris, just had to give me trouble about dropping out of Mizzou. Chris was drinking Budweiser, probably had about a 12 pack, was obnoxious, and that night I never heard the end of it. Later he acknowledges, that he failed to mention that I dropped out of Mizzou to attend a more prestigious university, but much later. I happened to keep seeing Chris at every game 2x/week, some at different times playing other teams. He eventually asked me in bystanding if I would ever be open to have a few drinks some night. I knew in my mind that after being right out of a relationship that I was not ready to go on a date of any kind, but figured why not give it a shot. We went on our first date to Bar Louie, had some drinks, but little did he know that I was pretty much immune to beer at this point and would take several for me to feel intoxicated. At the end of our night out at Bar Louie, Chris admits I drank him under the table (apparently, he cannot handle beer very well, but could drink liquor all night and not feel effects from it). This is where our love story began.
~MW
