by Richard Rampello
Most of us have had hit our ears the term “high school sweethearts.” Occasionally, we see a maturation of that dubbed “college sweethearts,” yet the customary label is “met while we were in college.” This could be as simple as the fact that college is a place of discovery and experience, but that is not a definition of my best friend and his wife.
At times it feels I am long removed from an institution of higher learning, let alone high school, but I do vividly recall the discussion of where our group of friends would be attending college. Several of my friends chose Finger Lakes Community College, or FLCC, affectionately pronounced “Flick.” I visited by best friend while he was there, a man who has held that title since we were five, where he met his now-wife.
Another friend who went to FLCC grew to have a relationship with someone else in our group. It was almost sitcom-like in that they were acquaintances, then friends, before finally becoming more. They are currently engaged, have been a long while, live together and appear genuinely involved with each other.
Moreover, Finger Lakes Community College has a viticulture and wine technology program, providing students the ability to grow grapes and make them into wine as a career, which can be incredibly alluring. In other words, a glass of wine often couples with romanticism. After all, this is the Finger Lakes, and the virtual tour of the campus includes beautiful trails and a serenity garden making for an astounding marriage opportunity. Love, it would seem, is quite literally in the air.
I know the story of how they met almost as well as when I met my wife. My best friend moved into his dorm, where his name was on the door. His wife was on the floor and introduced herself. They watched a movie that first night and they have been connected ever since. And yes, I do find her a wonderful woman for him.
Furthermore, when my best friend went to a four year school for Agriculture in the mountains, they remained together. She was there when he buried his dad, his aunt, his grandparents, his uncle and her dad too, and unified through a particularly personal ordeal: twice occurring. But the third time is the charm, so their little girl was finally born in the middle of March (the 13th, so not quite the Ides), which should help to make June 21, 2015 – The Day for Dads – a positive experience again. And to think they “met” in college, right?
If there is one thing to learn from college, perseverance comes to mind. Upon reflection, we have just witnessed it.
