Forty years ago today, the earth shook, history changed. Two people noticed. I was one of them.

[DFW]

7. Is IS an anniversary of sorts.

We were both so busy, we never found the time to think about getting married. This is the day we met. We only got married because my brother invited us to our wedding. That is not a typo.

My brother called me up in December, 1981. I was in Boston that day. He asked me if I wanted to be best man at his wedding next April. I said sure, and that I'd see if my (then-)girlfriend could make over from Germany. He remarked that if we were both there that we could join in the fun and make it a double. I thought "no arrangements! What a deal" So I called my girlfriend, who was in Germany at the time, and relayed my brother's suggestion. She said the German equivalent of "Sure, that works for me," and that was that. Not the most romantic of proposals, but it doesn't seem to have been a detriment.