How We Met

Sam: The first I ever heard of David was when I saw his response card for my sister Avery's wedding on my mother's desk. My mother, Lindsey and I were laughing about it, saying "Oh, David Newman's coming to the wedding!" because none of us had the foggiest notion who he knew in the family. When I asked Avery about him, she said "Oh, he works with Eduardo and he's really nice; you're going to like him." Little did I know she was going to seat him at the bridesmaids' table, so actually there was a lot of opportunity for chatting at the wedding. That was Labor Day Weekend in 1998.

David: I had my first contact with a Goldstein when I met Avery at a movie event that work was having. The movie, Meet the Feebles, is not exactly the most tasteful production ever made (it is a slasher muppet movie), so I was a little surprised when Eduardo brought his fiancee. Avery seemed at the time to quietly accept this gore-fest of muppet, yet this film may be the reason I am now marrying Samantha. A week or so after the movie I attended Avery and Eduardo's wedding. I didn't know anyone at the wedding, and I had only known Eduardo for the few months he had worked with my company. I seated myself in the back row of the out door wedding ceremony and watched as the wedding participants gathered. This was my first glimpse of Samantha as she and her other sister Lindsey were maids of honor. Later at the reception I was very surprised to find myself seated with both Samantha and Lindsey at what could only be considered a family table. For whatever reason, Avery and Eduardo had figured we might like each other and were doing subtle match-making at their own wedding. Samantha was no shy creature, making statements like "So you work in porno?" just to see what reaction I might give. She also demanded that I dance with her, which I was for some reason compelled to do even though I consider myself someone who never dances.

Sam: The way we started talking is that David was seated next to Lindsey, who was discussing the meal with David, and who eventually leaned across the table and staged-whispered, "I'm talking to a very nice Australian who I think YOU should talk to." David was very cordial but not overly friendly-I couldn't really tell if he appreciated my jokes or not. He was low-key; now I realize he must have been shy, but he didn't seem shy exactly. I thought he was really cute, though, and I thought it was adorable that when I returned to the table at one point and he had taken his ponytail out and was wearing his hair down, he got all flustered when I yelled, "Ooo, it's that time of the night to let your hair down!" I remember telling him that it was "cute" that he was from Perth, and if he thought that was asinine (as well he should!) he was polite about it. I also think it's funny that David had never owned a suit (something I learned six weeks later, when we planned to attend another wedding together) and that all night I simply assumed he had taken his jacket off at some point. I remember standing out on the terrace and David telling me that he had a brother named Ben who had come to San Diego for a visit, and that "everyone" in Australia lived in cities. When the wedding ended, I felt it was the right thing to invite David to the after-party at my friend Bryan's house, though I was pretty surprised when he accepted.

David: The invitation to the after wedding party I took as a good sign. Here was a dynamic, beautiful girl who seemed single, who lived very near me, that many would classify Samantha as loud (and I liked loud). By the time Samantha asked me to attend the party at Bryan's I had already determined I wanted to ask her out, so that party seemed like perfect opportunity for such questions. My shyness prevented me from asking out right, so I waited for conversation to lead in a suitable direction (I think too much about this sort of thing). Unfortunately once at Bryan's, Samantha disappeared for sometime, later to appear in Bryan's mother clothes (a pair of shorts and a large t-shirt). This was not quite the glamorous outfit of earlier in the evening, and not that I minded, yet I read this to mean through my distorted logic that she wasn't interested in my attentions. Fortunately I was wrong.

Sam: One moment when I thought David might like me was when I had to jump out of Bryan's car at the security gate for his complex and give the guard a guided tour of our entourage. When I got to David's car, I leaned in the window and told the guard, "And here's David Newman! He's with us, too," and David was smiling ear to ear, enjoying my audacity. I remember talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Bryan's house, thinking this might impress David, but I later discovered that he had never seen it (Avery has an interesting way of "creating" personas for people-she also told me David was a musician and rode a motorcycle.) At the end of the night, David asked if I needed a ride home, and I told him my cousin Sean had already offered, which was quite true. I was noisily reprimanded by both Avery and Lindsey, who felt I was blowing my chance. When we were all walking toward the door, I said to David, aiming for breezy nonchalance, "It's so cool that we're practically neighbors! Maybe we'll run into each other somewhere." David responded, quite suavely, "Yes, and towards that end, could I give you my number?" He whipped out a little card that turned out to be a card version of a Swiss Army knife (clue to David's fixation with gadgets) and wrote his number on one of his business cards for me. I still have it. I gave David directions to the toll road, but he later told me he got hopelessly lost. I was glad he didn't hold that against me.