The year was 2005. I had just started my sophomore year at Pittsburg Sate University. (I didn't know it at the time, but this particular year was about to become the best year of my life.) I was a Resident Assistant, and we had just had our first or second RHA meeting of the year. RHA stands for Residence Hall Assembly, and the meetings are about as exciting as they sound.
The meeting didn't get over with until about 9:30pm. I was walking back to my dorm, when one of my new floormates flagged me down and walked back with me. This person's name was Gabe. I had known him for less than two weeks at the time. Almost 4 years later, he would be the Best Man at my wedding.
Gabe introduced me to some of his new friends, and yes, some of his friends were ladies...
He pointed to them and said their names. It was obviously very dark outside, but their faces were illuminated by the florescent glow of the lights across campus. I couldn't remember everyone, but one person really struck a chord with me. Her name was Ke'o Verzon.
Naturally, I introduced myself with one of the corniest lines known to man, "Hi, I'm Rye Addis but my friends just call me Rye." Ke'o giggled, but I later found out that she thought my first name was actually Ryeaddis.
I was intrigued by this person.
When I got back to my room, I immediately got on Facebook to check out this Ke'o Verzon chick. Keep in mind this was back when Facebook was still cool. It was limited to college students only, and my news feed didn't get flooded with heaping piles of crap. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was before there even was a news feed. I loved Facebook back then. But I digress...
I quickly discovered that Ke'o had a boyfriend. Bummer. Oh well. Time to move on. And so I did...
I dated a couple of girls over the next few months, but I kept running into Ke'o. She would often visit Gabe on my floor, and we'd run into each other.
She ultimately broke up with her boyfriend (obviously because she couldn't stop thinking about me.) And things never really materialized with the other girls I dated. Ke'o and I started hanging out a little here and a little there in group settings. She stopped by my room more frequently and for longer periods of time. I asked her on a date. She accepted. And the rest is history...
It's not as if September 1st will ever be celebrated. In fact, I'm pretty sure Ke'o doesn't even realize it has significance. (I'm keeping this blog post a secret from her, so I'll be curious to see what her reaction is.) But to think I've known this incredible woman for an entire decade is pretty cool. That's one-third of my life. Here's to many, many more decades together!
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| A very young Rye & Ke'o |
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| Another very young (and silly) Rye and Ke'o |
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