Rodney (RT) & I met 11 years ago; he was my boss at a Relax the Back store. We had a lot in common—he was the only other person I had ever met who went to as many concerts as me! Once, before we knew we “liked each other”, I saw him at a Rick Springfield (RS) concert. I thought, “What kind of guy would go to a RS concert without a girl forcing him?” I think that was the day I knew I liked him. (For those of you who don’t know—I have been a RS fanatic since I was 11). About six months later, after a work meeting, we got some dinner at a Mexican place called “CozyMels”—it’s where we first confessed we liked each other. Our first official date was a RS and John Waite (JW) concert in 1999. I rediscovered JW; and “When I See You Smile”, a song he did in the 90’s, would become “Our Song”. JW was playing live in the area quite a bit and RT & I got to meet him one night. We found out he was promoting a new record. The brother of a good friend of mine was a popular radio personality, so he was able to have JW on his show to promote. We got to go down to the station and spend some time with JW—he is a gracious and humble guy, who was so thankful. I joked with him that he could play at our wedding some day! (By the way—we were not even close to being engaged then). On August 1, 2002, my 33rd birthday (RT’s lucky number is 33); RT surprised me with the MOST romantic proposal EVER, on the beach in Laguna. I never saw it coming. (There is another great story there that we can tell another time.) Now, RT’s dream is a big romantic wedding, I on the other hand had the Justice of the peace in mind. So, we waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Fast forward 6 years. It’s late April 2008 and I am anxiously awaiting my Indy 500 tickets in the mail, I get an envelope that I just know has the tickets. I rip it open to find a postcard for the “RS & Friends Cruise, featuring JW”. At first I am annoyed—but then, in a flash—I have an “AH-ha” moment, the light-bulb-goes-on, bells-ringing-in-your-head kind of thing. “This is it—this is where we’ll get married”. RT called it “Kismet”—meant to be. You see, I have said over and over, JW will play at my Wedding—now that we have him stuck on the ship—my chances really increased! We in touch w/ his people and are waiting for an answer. We’ll keep you posted. So much that brought us together in the beginning, is what brought us to today. And our future. By the way… the ship sails to Cozumel. Remember our restaurant? I think it’s always been our Destiny. Oh—and did I mention, that just happens to be the name of the Ship. I guess some things are just meant to be.
