20 years later
October 26, 2003 was a beautiful fall day. Although it was a Sunday, I drove down to Seton Hall Law mid-morning. I didn't take my books or laptop with me because I wasn't going to school to study. I was meeting my moot court partner... we were going on a date.
We met in front of the law school and walked across the street to Newark Penn Station. We took the PATH train to the West Village and walked around for a bit. We had pizza at Lombardi's in Little Italy. We got sweets at Ferrara's down the street. Then we went to a matinee to see The Runaway Jury. After the movie, we took the train back to school. I was home in time for dinner.
That was my last first date.
Over the years, we've taken some good-natured ribbing about this date. A day date?! On a Sunday?! I drove myself? Pizza as our meal?! A matinee?! I certainly see the humor in it, but at the time, none of this ever crossed my mind. When I woke up that day, I knew something big was about to happen. I felt it in my bones. It turns out, I was right.
The morale of the story? Well, there's two:
Trust your gut. We inevitably face circumstances where people can't help but insert their opinion or the naysayers chime in. It doesn't matter what they think, say, or believe. The only opinion and intuition that matters is yours. Listen to yourself!
Stay curious. Never forget to ask "Why"? We went out on a Sunday because I wanted to get all my homework done on Saturday before we went out; I drove myself because Jay didn't have a car following an accident where he was hit head-on and totaled his car; we went for (amazing!) pizza because he wanted to impress an Italian girl from Jersey; and we saw that movie because yes, us law students were quintessential John Grisham fans, but it was shot in New Orleans, Jay's home town, which I had never visited. Makes a lot of sense after all!
Not to mention, over the last 20 years, we have replicated some version of that date many times because, frankly, we had the best time! We didn't need a fancy meal and still don't. The time of day didn't matter. The date was authentically us -- before we even knew it.
So... anyone else craving pizza now, or is that just me...?
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