The Background and The Meeting
In late September of 2010, Paul and Lisa met at a bar, like any good couple does. A happy hour brought together by their friend, Yuri Waldo. Yuri had recently become friends with Paul through their mutual friend, Blake Seff. Blake and Jess were going to London due to Jess's love of degrees. Blake handed Paul, who was new to Houston, off to Yuri. Yuri, who was settling back into Houston after a hiatus in the northeast, wanted to see his good friend Lisa who he had missed dearly. So, he invited her and a few others to a happy hour at Sawyer Park on Washington Avenue in Houston, TX. Since she had the day off, Lisa decided that she was going to make it a point to be there. Out of curiosity, she asked who would be there. Yuri replied with, "some friends from work, Rene and Patti, and this crazy Englishman." This seemed like a normal thing for Yuri to say, so off to Sawyer Park she went. Little did she know that this crazy Englishman was going to be the man she fell in love with...especially amazing after he made some jackass comment about sausage shortly after meeting her. (It's a good thing he was terribly handsome.)
The First Date
A few days later, after their chance encounter, Paul did what any determined and incredibly intrigued man would do, he Facebook stalked Lisa. He was looking for a chance to get to know her better. Lisa was beautiful, smart, and incredibly keen to bullsh!t. Paul knew she would be a challenge. So, Paul asked her out and she said yes. The date was set and sushi was on the menu. Uptown Park Sushi was one of Lisa's favorites. Paul made a very good choice. He seemed to have great taste already!
The conversation was great. The food was great. The spark was there. At the end of the night, Paul, the perfect gentleman, kissed her on both cheeks and Lisa smiled all the way home. She was smitten. She called her girlfriends to tell them the news. She had met this Brit with baby blue eyes who made her laugh. Lisa and her friend, Martha, discussed this new guy on a run at Memorial Park shortly after. Martha, a skeptic, wanted all the "deets." Her friend, Lindsey, the eternal optimist, was so excited for her. Paul told all the guys that he was sure that Lisa was the one for him. Ravi and Pierre knew this Lisa chick must be something really special if she had done this to The Legend. With all this excitement, there was only one small issue...Paul's time in Houston was wrapping up and he was going back to New York. Long distance wasn't an option for either of them.
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After spending every moment together that they could before he went back to NYC, they both realized that they REALLY enjoyed each other's company and it was becoming much more than they had bargained for. Two months later, Paul moved to Houston in February of 2011. They just couldn't be apart. Frank Camilli was happy to have Paul back at Repsol, Lisa was getting into her groove at Twin Eagle and their relationship was growing. They had some initial road bumps and some growing experiences. It all made them realize that no matter how hard it might get or how much they disagreed over something, they didn't want to live without each other.
On July 25th, 2012 at about 5:30am in Boston, MA (after a very delayed flight), Paul asked Lisa to marry him. Lisa said yes, with tears in her eyes. It is a love story that will truly go down in history.
Thank you
Our story would not have started and would not go on without each of you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our lives and for sharing this very special time with us.
Love always,
Paul and Lisa
