Carlie & Drum

I met Drum on a blind date when I was 37 and he was 39 years old. I had almost resolved myself to the idea of staying single. I had no idea that one night over a burger in downtown NYC could change our lives forever. I remember thinking how rare it was to find a man who wanted to be married and start a family and wasn’t a divorcee with his own children – it’s like finding a unicorn! Within months we were trekking through Central America, surfing in Nicaragua, and sharing our ideas of our future together.

That first date was the fall of 2010. We moved in together after six months, engaged after nine months, married a year later, and I came home from our honeymoon pregnant. We just celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary. I truly believe that our success has been waiting as long as we did – waiting for the right one.

We had both traveled extensively, had prior relationships, and enjoyed ourselves. There was no hesitation to jump in with both feet. Now this isn’t to say that this time alone didn’t form a sense of independence and there is continued compromises to be made but we believe in what we have. Both Drum and I are products of divorce – raised by a single mom so there is a real appreciation for the work involved in raising a family and making a marriage work – we have lived through the mistakes firsthand. Being raised by a single mom has made Drum a very sensitive man which you would never think when first meeting him. I guess to surmise our dynamic it would be accepting our pasts, the “ways” we are, and a commitment to learn from our parents and many of our friend’s mistakes. And we never sweat the small stuff.