UC’s Fireball Lit This Match

Farrah (BA 2001 UC): I was in first year, and I noticed this guy around Diabolo’s. I found out that he was known as “nice guy Rob” – which sounded good to me. We were introduced at Fireball, the big formal dance at University College. Then, just before reading week, I went to Diabolo’s with my sister and she encouraged me to give Rob my number.

Not long after we met, I went off to camp in California, and then he graduated and travelled to Europe. Then he went to Japan for a year to teach English, and later I enrolled in graduate school in New York. This was the before the age of Skype, and we were paying pretty steep long distance charges. But the idea of not being together just didn’t make sense.

We got married in October 2003, and we now have two daughters. The summer after we got married, we visited Europe together and I recently read the trip journal as a bedtime story for our older daughter. It’s great to have a reminder of how much fun we have together.

Rob (BA 1998 UC): A couple of months after we started dating, I came down with mono and had to move in with my grandparents to recuperate. Our relationship was so new and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But Farrah was amazing and she really took care of me. In a relationship, there are good times and bad times, and she really showed me early on that she would be there for me.

We’re different, but we complement each other. I’m happy-go-lucky and goofy, and she’s super fun but more strong-willed. A lot of our stories involve me getting us into a predicament and then Farrah coming to the rescue. My style of travel used to be to show up with a Lonely Planet guide and scramble. Farrah has us a little better organized now.

We make a conscious effort to spend time together, and we end up joking around about the same things we did when we were kids. Every so often, for milestone occasions, we still go back to Diabolo’s. We just sit and have a coffee and just bask in the memories.