How I Met Your Mot... I mean, How I Met My Wife

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I thought it appropriate to make this week's story about my wife. Even though neither of us are actually fans of Valentine's Day.

It's true! If I even think about buying her flowers, greeting cards or any of the other tropes of this Hallmark Holiday, Jodi will not be pleased, because it's not authentic to who either of us are. I've already received this warning this week... and it's not an idle threat.

Hatred of Valentine's Day aside, what's the story of how we met? Glad you asked (or else this week's column would have been very short...).

It was September 2, 2011. The nation was still reeling from Charlie Sheen's public meltdown. Topping the box office was Contagion - a movie that hypothesized about what would happen if there was ever a global pandemic. Business headlines were mere weeks away from being dominated by Occupy Wall Street and its Dollar General equivalent in Canada, Occupy Bay Street.

And in other news, a young... well, younger Sean B. Pasternak was about to go on a blind date; one he wasn't particularly looking forward to.

You see, Sean had been on many blind dates over the past half-decade, many of which ended in disaster. There were a handful of no-shows (which does wonders for one's self confidence); a few where the love connection didn't go both ways; and even one with an HR professional where she literally pulled out a pad of paper and began asking me questions, job interview style.

This date was slightly different, as Sean was being fixed up by my sister-in-law and her close friend, someone who was a mutual acquaintance of Jodi's. While Sean absolutely trusted the judgment of those two, he was pretty much burned out on dating and really didn't have high hopes going into it.

So burned out, in fact, that he kept referring to himself in the third person... which I need to stop doing immediately.

Jodi and I introduced ourselves over Facebook and agreed to meet at a local dessert restaurant. Although she met all of my rigorous dating standards (she was female and agreed to meet me), I was incredibly skeptical. I had just been burned too many times to get excited about the opportunity.

Thankfully, I was proven wrong (or else this column would be called something else, such as "How I Met That Random Woman Once And Nothing Ever Came Of It"). Not only was she beautiful and charming, but we shared a lot of the same values. We talked about our kids, our jobs, and many other things, and the date ended far too quickly. By the end of the year, we both knew this relationship was real and had serious potential.

Thirteen and a half years later, we are still together and very happy. The two of us have traveled many different places together and whether it's a quick road trip or a longer vacation, we legitimately enjoy each other's company. July will mark our tenth wedding anniversary, and now I honestly can't imagine not having Jodi to spend the rest of my life with. Amazing considering I wasn't even looking forward to the first date!

It all makes for a great Valentine's Day story... even though neither us really celebrate the holiday.

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