MATT'S SIDE
It's hard to remember when we first met officially, but I'm sure it's somewhere between 1989 and 1991. The place was Larkfield Lanes. Marisa and I were both in a Saturday morning bowling league. We were pretty young and time was on our side. So, we decided to wait a few years before talking to each other.
Fast forward to 1995 - 9th grade English class. I'm not sure if it was our mutual disdain for reading or love of bowling but we finally got each other's attention that year. We became good friends quickly as we pretended to be the cool people at bowling (not possible) and talked on the phone for hours. Well, Marisa talked and I listened (some things never change).
Throughout high school, we remained good friends. Marisa was definitely my best "girl" friend but, since she got a lot of attention from the boys, I'm not sure where I fell on her list (#3?).
In 2000, we both moved to the city for college which allowed us to hang out more often.
Marisa started coming out to Brooklyn to hang out at derelict art parties in my building. We became even better friends as I was often her bed-side nurse in the mornings. Many 40s and late-night egg sandwiches later, the school year ended and I needed a place to live!
Marisa was getting ready to move back home to Long Island and I was looking for a place in Brooklyn. Me and 3 other guys had secured a house in Park Slope when one them dropped out. The rest of our friends had already secured apartments so I thought it would be cool to save my great friend Marisa from having to move back home! I asked Marisa if she wanted to moved in and she was super excited but scared of what her parents would say! Four's company!
Turns out Marisa moved in and then we became best friends! Spending all of our time together, we were practically boyfriend and girlfriend! However, labels a young Shaw did not like. Having just gotten out of a long relationship, I was non-committal and generally acted like a 20-year old jerk. Luckily, my poor, lovely Marisa was patient and kinder to me than I deserved (again, some things never change). It was during this time that I got appendicitis and Marisa will claim something magical happened. You can read more about that on the right.
We continued spending all of our time together and lived in that house for 2 years.
In 2003, our lease was up. So we moved out and got our own apartments. However, I still spent most of my time at Marisa's! Even though she had a roommate! And I didn't! Anyway, this is the time where we started going from young kids that didn't know our asses from our elbows to young kids that could easily differentiate an ass from an elbow. We traveled together, ate great food together and become people with decent paychecks and some goals in life.
In 2008, we moved in together again...but for the first time as a couple and without two other guys! We built a home together, threw some parties and had a great time. We tried to get a dog but the landlord said no and Marisa cried. Looking to own a piece of the city, we went apartment hunting a lot and eventually found a place in 2009. We moved in 2010, got a shed, planted a garden and threw some more parties. In 2011, we bought a car and won a bowling championship. In 2012, we got a dog and Marisa got a ring. Marisa said yes, we had a couple more parties and then we made this website. Thank you for reading this. Marisa, I love you.
MARISA'S SIDE
If you can go way back, Matt and I crossed paths when we were very young, less than 10 yrs old. Both bowling on Saturday mornings, we really didn't get to know each other until freshman year of high school. I think we were both ready to move on from bowling but it was a weekly tradition our families kept us in. Out of boredom of the sport and the other members, we became friends. We'd go across the street and share Taco Bell for lunch, go over each other's houses to watch movies and talk to all hours of the night on the phone.
The real shift in our friendship came our sophomore year of college. I moved to the FIT dorms on 27th St and Matt moved to Brooklyn to go to school at NYIT. We'd meet for drinks and dinner and I'd go out to Brooklyn to go to a college party or two. We spent almost every weekend together from Jan to May 2001. When May rolled around, campus housing was no longer offered to me. I thought I'd have to move back to LI and into my parents house! Matt had found a new apartment in Park Slope with some other roommates but one of them dropped out. I saw an opportunity and invited my parents to lunch in the city to ask for permission to move in with Matt and the guys in BK. The conversation went much better than expected and after spending the summer back on LI, I packed up for my new life in BK... Sept 2001!
After class and work, Matt and I would often meet up to head back home or to go explore the city. Add parties, dinner and subway rides, we were suddenly spending all of our free time together. In Dec 2001, Matt got appendicitis and was in the hospital for over a week. I found myself tearing at work worrying about his recovery and rushing from class to visit him. I then knew my feelings had turned to more than friends. However, we were young, having fun finishing school and even though we tried not to take it too serious, we kept finding ourselves together. In May of 2003, I finished school and our lease was up. Matt moved into a junior 2 bedroom in the North Slope and I crashed with him that summer until I found my own place down the street on 5th Ave. Our relationship grew in that time as we traveled, spent holidays with my family, became foodies, grew in our careers but most importantly started making plans for the future.
In May 2008, my wish of living together came true when we rented a new 2 BR condo that we could decorate how we wanted, throw parties and make our very own! We saved money and after a little more than a year, achieved our goal of buying property in NYC! We were so excited to move in and spent much time and care making it our home. Weekend upon weekend of home improvements and gardening to make our beloved outdoor patio space where we love entertain! Quickly, the car and Baci followed.
In high school we made a pact that if neither of us were married by 35, we'd marry each other. To my surprise, it happened organically and ahead of schedule! I am so proud of the life we have built together over these 10 years and it's no coincidence that in less than a year, we achieved some big personal goals to prepare us for the next stage in our lives. Our time has come and I couldn't be more grateful, hopeful and happy to be sharing my life and family with my love, teammate and best friend. Matt, I love you!
