The Story of Us – Where it all began

In 1999, I had just moved to Tulsa. My sister, Haili, invited me to a friend’s graduation. She heard there would be a great speaker. That evening, I found myself sitting next to a kind woman named Shirley Egly. We chatted, and I asked if she knew anything about the speaker. She smiled and said, “Yes, that’s my son Ted.”

When Ted stepped up to speak, my heart skipped a beatI I immediately noticed not only his gift for communication, but also his presence. He was confident, genuine, and extremely handsome.

Over the next few months, Ted and I would see each other at different events. The more time I spent around him, the more I liked him. But there was one problem. I had a “list” of qualities someone had to have before I would consider dating them. On that list was: Must be older than me. Ted was two years younger, and at the time, it felt like a deal-breaker.

I decided to set him up with my sister, Haili, who was also two years younger than me. For some reason, she thought of him as a brother and he saw her as a little sister, and they weren’t interested in dating. I thought Haili was CRAZY! “He’s PERFECT!” I told her.

“Then you date him,” she replied.

Hmmm…maybe I should consider breaking this one rule on my “list.”

One afternoon, Ted invited Haili and I and some other friends to his house to play games. Haili couldn’t go, but I wouldn’t have missed it. That day I met Ted’s dad, sister, and mom (again). I later learned that Ted’s sister pulled his mom aside and said:

“Mom, I think that girl Kathryn is the one Ted is going to marry!”

Ted and I continued to bump into each other or hang out on different occasions with a group of friends. In the fall of 2000, we were both at the gym at the same time. I was working out with my sister, he was with his dad. He started running laps on the track, and I decided to join him. That night, right there on the track, he asked me to join him for a run at La Fortune Park in Tulsa.

How do you dress when your first date is to go RUNNING?

Do you wear makeup? (I wore a little.)

We met at the park and ran 6 miles together. I don’t run six miles. In fact, I’m not sure I had ever run 6 miles before that day or if I’ve run 6 miles since, but it was that “first date” adrenaline and I mostly floated through the run. After that, we got some Mexican food and talked for hours.

By the end of the night, I knew. This was it. This was the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

Thankfully, he felt the same way. On Valentine’s Day, 3 months later, he told me he loved me and wanted to talk about our future together. In June, we were engaged.

Click here to read the story of our engagement!

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