At the start of 2018 Athena had sworn off dating! For at least a year; or so she told herself. After coming back from studying abroad, Athena needed to focus on finishing up school and finding a job. Or two jobs. Or three. It was a busy time of year and Athena wanted to put energy into closing the college chapter of her life. Once she fell into the humdrum of classes she made her way down to the local QFC to apply for a part time job as a cashier.

After a stellar interview, Athena was hired on the spot. Little did she know that this job would soon change her life in ways she couldn't even imagine.

Flashforward to Athena's first week on the job and she is handed a packet of new hire paperwork. This packet included a 'get to know the store' worksheet that instructed her to ask her fellow employees a random assortment of questions. Athena walked to the back of the store and into the produce section.

Standing there looking like the cutest, most handsome guy with kind eyes and adorable glasses was Danny. As he stacked yellow onions Athena walked up and shyly introduced herself, explaining to him about the new hire paperwork and asked if she could ask him a question to fill it out. He obliged and answered the question "What is a foodie?"

As Athena walked away from this conversation she thought to herself, that guy is cuuuuteeeeee.

A few weeks went by and Athena kept running into Danny. Every time they saw each other they would make excuses to keep talking. Athena even volunteered for the grossest job of taking out the store trash just because the path to get there was to pass produce where Danny was working.

After a series of butterfly inducing conversations, Athena knew there was something more. Right at the end of her shift one night Danny came through check stand three and chatted Athena up. This was her chance.

Athena pretended that she missed her bus. She ran upstairs to grab her things and rushed back down exclaiming loudly "oh no I missed my bus and the next one won't be here for so long!" A lie of course but she committed to the act. Danny offered her a ride home.

As they made the ten minute trek home in Danny's Honda Civic, Athena could feel her heart beating fast. They were making small talk when they found out they both had the next day off. Pulling up to Athena's place, Danny joked about making smoke signals in the sky to meet up, before he finally asked for her number. They planned to get a late afternoon coffee the next day. It was a date.

The first date brought all the normal jitters, but as they settled in, it became apparent that magic was in the air. They stayed all the way until the coffee shop closed at 9pm. Not wanting to go home quite yet, they made their way over to Beth's 24 hour diner where they split sweet bread, french-fries and milkshakes and talked about everything and nothing. It was perfect.

When Athena walked back into her home around 1am she felt dizzy with excitement. Though she was tired, she couldn't sleep. All she could do was replay the evening and think about how wonderfully easy it was for Danny to make her laugh and for her to share her stories with him.

Together, she and Danny have gone on so many adventures from the glaciers of Alaska to the roads of Missouri to the Regal Cinema. Each day there is laughter. Each day there is love. They share a passion of story telling and dream chasing and eating good food. Almost seven years later, Athena thinks back to that first date and smiles. It was the start of the most beautiful and precious thing she has ever known - a life with Daniel Edward Hyde.

Registry