The first time I ever met Clare, she was working in a clothes store in Chicago. I was feeling pretty embarrassed because I had gone in to buy a scarf for my sister and there were 20 or 30 women in there and I was the only man. I was standing in the scarves, hats and gloves section feeling sorry for myself when Clare walked up to me and asked me if there was anything I needed.

She looked very beautiful and was dressed elegantly. I must admit that for a couple of seconds, I wasn't able to say anything. I just looked at her. Finally, I said, "what size scarves do you have?" and then realized that it was quite a stupid question. I left the store a few seconds later without buying anything.

Two days later, I was sitting in a coffee bar around the corner when I heard a voice behind me say, "did you ever find the scarf you were looking for?" I turned around and was amazed to see the same pretty girl from the clothes store. We laughed about it and shared a coffee together.

Two weeks later, I was brave enough to ask Clare to go to see a movie with me. You can imagine how unhappy I was when she said that she couldn't go with me. She promised to call me another time, but I didn't believe her. The next morning, my cell phone rang and I recognized her number on the screen. She said she was free and asked if I still wanted to go to the cinema. That was seven years ago and now we've been married for nearly 5 years.