Michael hadn't been in Atlanta for more than 6 months at that time and had only been working a few months at the credit union. Up until that point we had mostly hung out in group situations and seemed to get along well with plenty to chat about and we both seemed interested in having a good time. Cinco de Mayo was on a Friday that year....coincidently the very first Friday that I was to start my volunteer work at Egleston Children's Hospital. My slotted time was from 6pm-8pm....pretty much when all the happy hour festivities usually got going. I was a little bummed about missing out (even though I was excited...and a little nervous...about starting my volunteer work) and Michael mentioned that he lived close to the children's hospital and that if I wanted to I could just go over to his place to meet up with him after I was finished and we would plan on hitting some Mexican restaurants to celebrate the occasion. I really don't think I considered it a "date" at the time, just friends hanging out to eat lots of chips and drink lots of margaritas.
Anyway, as it turns out, my 6-8 time slot ran a lot later than 8 o'clock. I was playing Monopoly with a teenager and given the fact that he was the one in the hospital bed I didn't want to just cut and run at 8...so we played a bit longer. It was either 9 or after when I finally apologetically called Michael to let him know I was on the way. Much later he told me that he thought I was just standing him up.
Once I got to his place, finally, we had a beer and then decided to head out to find a suitable Mexican restaurant in the area. I had one in mind (Panchos) but when we got there the parking lot was so full we couldn't even park, let alone get in the place. Strike one. The next place we drove by (El Azteca) was also a packed house....and we saw a little sign that said they were charging a cover to even get in!! Strike two. Then I had a brilliant thought....not far was a smaller Mexican place that had awesome margaritas (ugh, can't remember the name....we started out my sister's bachelorette party there though) and I was sure we'd be able to get in and enjoy our evening. We got there and were very excited to see it was not packed. We went in and waited a bit for a hostess....who promptly told us basically to leave, it was late (um, not even 10 o'clock yet...close, but still that is not late for Cinco de Mayo!!), they wouldn't be serving, etc. Strike three.
And so, starving at this point, we ended up eating pizza and drinking beer at Fellini's. Not exactly the way one pictures spending a Mexican holiday but we had a good time. I think after that we just went back to his place and I got my car and headed home. Date or not, we had definitely had a great time together that evening and were clearly comfortable hanging out with each other.
For the next year and three months we had plenty of similar "dates" together, went to the gym after work together, watched movies, chatted on the phone, made up reasons to skip the gym and drink in the middle of the week, and became really close friends. And finally in August of 2007 we had our first "official" date.
Did I know on May 5, 2006 that I would end up marrying and starting a family with Michael? Nope, and I don't think he knew it either. But both of us, looking back, realize that something special started on that Cinco de Mayo 4 years ago......which makes May 5th an anniversary for us that we will always remember!! :-)
December 2006....after Cinco de Mayo but still well before we started dating!
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