Attention, single people. Even if youre not looking for love, Cupids arrows might strike in an unlikely place at an unlikely time. So, for example, if you are celebrating a work anniversary at 窪做惇蹋厙, you might want to consider attending the annual employee anniversary and service awards meal held at the end of each year in the Class of 1953 Commons.
Thats where, on Dec. 12, 2019, Tammara Wood and Scott Gerlach ended up sitting next to each other. Theyd never met. They knew almost nobody else in the room. And for both, attending this luncheon was at the rock bottom of their daily to-do lists.
Wood, program manager for the in the Department of Biomedical Data Science at the Geisel School of Medicine, was marking her 10th year at 窪做惇蹋厙, and Gerlach, a computer programmer for the , was observing his 15th.
Both divorced, neither was feeling overly sociable, and neither relished the trek to the Green on a raw winter day. But colleagues encouraged each of them to get out of their offices for a change and enjoy a lunch on the house.
Free foods always nice, says Wood. But I was not motivated by that. I had been single for more than a year and trying the dating apps. Its very difficult in this area. Anybody you might meet usually lives an hour and a half away. So I had made a deal with myself that I was going to start to get out there more.
Gerlach had set a similar goal, but certainly didnt expect to find the love of his life in a noisy college dining hall.
A Slow Build
Although they had plenty of common career ground to explore, the lunchmates steered clear of office chat.
We mostly talked about how crazy we are, says Wood.
Were crazy in the same way, agrees Gerlach. Were go-getters.
Wasting no time, Gerlach asked Wood for her name (but not her phone number) and, back at the office, looked her up and sent her an email attached to another email chain theyd once been part of, just to show that they already knew each other.
She responded. They began exploring common interests: taking hikes, playing chess, strolling through the Hood Museum of Art, eating Thai food. Something started to simmer, and not just on the stove.
It was a slow build, says Gerlach, We took everything slowly. And then I was hooked.
We were cautious. We had histories, Wood interjects, smiling at him.
I was out of the water before I knew I was hooked, I mean, I was being filleted, and Im like, I think theres something here, Gerlach says, glancing back at his fiancee.
(Yes, be patient, were coming to that.)
Bowled Over by Serenades
When she met Gerlach, Wood was just beginning guitar lessons, an instrument that her new friend, also a banjo teacher, had been performing on.
Now he serenades me every day, Wood says.
Indoors, for his gigs, and outdoors, in cold weather, Gerlach wears a dapper bowler hat. When they left the luncheon together, he put it on.
That was almost a deal-breaker for Wood.
But I am commending myself now for looking beyond that hat, she says. I love it now. Its another thing that made me laugh a lot about him. Hes got style, for sure. And he makes me feel so beautiful every day. It wasnt his job to improve my self-confidence. But its just who he is as an individuala man that cannot stop looking at me.
Leaping Into Elopement
Gerlach was indeed gazing at her closely but nervously the morning he proposed, with a diamond ring hed had re-made from one she inherited from her mother.
Theyll tie the proverbial knot on the last day of this month in a small ceremony attended by Woods two grown children.
We want to get married on Leap Year, just to be screwy, Wood says. Scott was born on April Fools Day, by the way. Feb. 29 epitomizes everything about us as individuals, breaking tradition.
Meanwhile, Valentines Day is coming up. The avid cooks will share an intimate dinner at home, and, as always, Gerlach is searching for a romantic-looking bottle of red wine. Maybe a heart or some flowers on the label? he wonders.
But for this couple, saying I love you is not a once-a-year kind of thing.
On the 12th of every single month, we celebrate the day we met, at that December 2019 luncheon, Wood says.
And they are certainly glad now that they got out of the office for lunch.
