At first, a brewhouse romance
Noelle Guerin, formerly of Centerport, talks about the first time she saw her husband, Keith.
I was always skeptical when I’d hear people talk about “love at first sight,” believing instead that true love evolves over time beginning with friendship that transforms with the infusion of romance and the communal endurance of life’s ups and downs.
Now I know that both beliefs are accurate. I realized that the first time I saw my husband, Keith, in February 2001.
Keith, 19, was a sophomore at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Mass. I was 20 and a junior at Gordon College in nearby Wenham, Mass. We were both working at a restaurant called The Brewhouse Cafe and Grille in Beverly.
I had just returned to work at the restaurant after spending a semester in California. Keith, a native of Haverhill, Mass., had been waiting tables there since the fall. I was the hostess and in charge of handing out paychecks.
The first two things I noticed were his mile-long eyelashes and his beautiful smile. The attraction was immediate and it made me quite nervous.
When Keith came over to ask for his check, I tried to cover it up and so with a straight face I replied, “Absolutely not!”