On my first date in middle school, I asked a boy to go to the fall festival with me. He said yes, but day-of, he was unable to get a ride, effectively standing me up. But I ran into a friend! We rode all the rides and played carnival games. I won a goldfish! … A month later, my cat ate it.

My now-husband and I bought a large canvas from Blick and created a collage together. We used artist inserts from his extensive record collection. Then, we went to a sushi restaurant downtown, where I showed how bad I was at using chopsticks (I’ve since gotten better). I knew he was the right person when I didn’t feel embarrassed. We’ve been teasing each other ever since.

My first date was in the winter. We went to my favorite restaurant, Sumo, downtown and ate sashimi [and] ramen. We walked around for a while, bought him a too-big black jacket, drove home and talked for an hour more. I’d say it was a pretty successful date. We’re still dating.

I washed clean clothes in a dorm laundry room because the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen was doing laundry in there. Laundry takes a while, so it ended up becoming a sort of date. After two hours of talking, we drew up and signed a contract to be best friends forever (as a bit). Five years after that, we signed a marriage contract.

The time I asked my girlfriend out, we walked to a nearby park. I asked her to be my girlfriend on one of the benches. It took her a VERY long time to say, “Yes.” We have been dating for three and a half years, so hopefully, she isn’t regretting it!

In February 2019, [at] a Valentine’s Day party in fifth grade, I passed out candy to classmates and gave a special box of chocolates to a girl I liked. I felt nervous, and I thought she was going to reject me, but she loved it! We dated for four days. 

My first date was very simple but very romantic. We went to a park and had a picnic full of fresh fruit. The water and nature near us were really beautiful, and I felt like a giddy kid who was living out something I had been dreaming of — a movie come true.

We walked to Java after school, where he bought us lemonade, and we played 20 questions. He had a bike with him, and I made the joke, “Look, the bike is third-wheeling!” As we were walking back to West, there was a beautiful sunset. It’s his contact photo to this day.

[During my] sophomore year here at West High (1998), I met my first “real” boyfriend at a friend’s birthday party in early October. We slow-danced, and he asked me for my phone number (my parents’ landline at that time). He called me the next day, and we made plans to meet at the Coral Ridge Mall to go to the movies. We saw a movie called “Urban Legend” (I think I still have the movie/ticket stub!) Neither of us could drive, so I got dropped off by a friend, and he rode his bike to meet me, carrying a single rose with him. We dated until the beginning of senior year and remain friends to this day.

Went to the movie “Day After Tomorrow” … failed miserably.