Taking Chances

On this day, 11 years ago I met my husband Amadeo. I was sitting in the waiting area of a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. I was there to celebrate a good friend's birthday. I was annoyed and hungry! My friends (including the birthday girl) were of course VERY late. A guy walks in, smiles at me and puts his name on the list. He sits in front of me and says, "looks like there is a party".  I had baked my friend a cake and there I was with a cake next to me. I responded by saying, "yeah, it sure looks that way huh". I've never been good with small talk with guys...I get nervous and say ALL  the wrong things. But I was somewhat ANNOYED with him, maybe it's because I had managed to involve myself in the two most exhausting longterm realtionships and I was SO DONE with men...or should I say BOYS!

So a few mintues later, a woman walks in with a baby in a carrier and looks over to this guy and says, "oh HONEY, did you put our name on the list?". WTF? What a creep! He walks by me, with his hands in his pockets, and wispers, "have fun at your party". I mumbled "have fun with your wife".

So, finally some friends arrived (20 minutes late). We got seated way in the back of the restaurant, but then more friends arrived and the host had to move us to a larger table. And guess where she moved us? RIGHT next to rico suave! He kept looking my way and smiling. His WIFE got up with the baby and went to the bathroom. And rico suave took the opportunity to start talking to my friend Carolina and they are both laughing and smiling, and I'm fuming! My friend hands me a business card and says "he wants yout to know that he's with his sister and that is his nephew in the carrier". Oh.

Apparently the conversation he had with my friend went something like this: Hey, I like your friend, is that her boyfriend sitting nex to her? No, that's my brother and they are just friends. Oh good! What's her name? Gloria. Can you give her my card, I hope we can exchange numbers. I will see what I can do.

So, my friend hands me his card and I just toss it to the side. NOT INTERESTED! I am single and loving my freedom at this point. Then my friend Amelia, who's sitting on the other side of me, grabs the business card and says, "he's a lawyer!!!". My response, "oh, even worse, a liar by trade. No thank you, I will pass. But if somehow I find myself in jail.....I know who to call."

He was getting up to leave and at this point the MARIACHIS are going strong and it was pretty loud in the restaurant. He yells, "Gloria, can I have your number?" I responded by saying, "my name is Gloria Rodriguez and I'm in the book, look me up". Who says that? Really? He was confused, but went with it. I figured, if he was genuinely interested, he would go through the trouble and eventually find me. Right?

Poor guy, he went through the White Pages and looked up every Gloria Rodriguez until he found me, the next day. He called me and I agreed to have dinner with him. I figured I haven't had a date in a while and rent is due in 3 days, and I could use a free dinner. Why not? The worst that can happen is I can add this to my list of HORRIBLE dates.

The date started at a lovely restaurant in downtown San Antonio. The conversation was easy, nothing forced and lots of laughs. I was hooked! We walked the Riverwalk so many times and just laughted and had such a good connection. It was so easy to talk to this guy.

I came home that night and told my roommate that I just went on a date with my future husband. She just rolled her eyes and laughed. That night I couldn't sleep, just thinking of how nice this guy was. He was a family guy, he adored his parents and he grew up with four loving sisters, and he was the BABY! These sisters paved the way for me. He's compassionate, considerate and understood women.

We went on our second date the next day and this was the start of a great relationship indeed. He had to fly back to LA the next morning. Oh, did I mention he was in town visiting family and his home was in LA? I knew that it was going to be tough having a long distance relationship but if it was meant to be, then it was meant to be.

A few months past and he invited me to come and visit him in LA. Of course, this was a Holiday weekend and so the traffic was light and the weather was perfect. I could definitely see why he loved it here so much. The visit went great and I was even more hooked! I flew back on a Wednesday and had to work that afternoon. I went to my supervisor and gave my two weeks notice and said, "I'm moving to LA". Just like that. I was up for a major promotion and a huge bonus. This was the opportunity that I was waiting for. But none of that mattered now because my heart was in LA. I never saw myself living outside of Texas, EVER! Much less California. But love can move mountains.

I moved out here five months after we met, and he we are, 11 years, two kids later. I was never a risk taker, but I'm glad I finally let the guards down and took a chance at love. I married my best friend and great co-pilot in life. He steers me when I can't find my way. His parents have always been so good to me and I adore them! I get along with all his sisters and they have treated me like Gold! I feel so blessed to have gained four more sisters!

Here's to many more years with Amadeo Cantu! Cheers!!