One of the things I ask
every person I marry to tell me about is how they met their beloved.
Some of the answers I get are downright vivid. You might assume that
especially these ones would be consistent between the two
people. This is not always the case, especially with regard to the
ongoing internal monologue we all have going on in our heads.
Just listen to Steph:
“My second semester of grad school, I had a Disability and Physical
Activity class that I was so excited for because that’s literally my niche in
the field I work in... I have a tendency to run around like a chicken
with its head cut off, and I was coming from my assistantship on a
different floor, so I came into the class a few minutes late. I remember I
was wearing my work uniform and cheetah headband, and I came into the room
hurriedly and saw AJ and thought, ‘Oh wow, now he’s handsome.’ He was wearing
all white and a hat.”
Now, listen to AJ, and do
keep in mind – and I hope you can hear the disappointment in my
voice – that this professor did not have a copy
of the Oxford University Press Dictionary of American Family Names in the
classroom. This page turner clarifies that some names are shared by those of
Germanextraction, not only those of Jewish ancestry. This will become
highly relevant in just a moment: “Dr. Rowland, our professor, began roll
call as she did at the beginning of each class. Sure enough, when we got
down to the S’s, the name Stephanie Steiner graced my ears. And in that moment,
the door swung wide open and in came Steph, in her disheveled frantic
manner, stated ‘Present! Sorry I’m late,’ and took her seat. It was in
that moment in looking at her, dressed in her Adidas capri leggings,
Chicago Athletic Clubs employment shirt, Nike shoes, and a cheetah headband
tying the ensemble together, that I knew that I was in trouble... I had found
my Jewish Wonder Woman.”
AJ, this might be
the worst time for this, but I think you need to know something...
Seriously, though, I
actually like the fact that that was his thought, and not only because
that and Black Panther were the only comic book movies I have liked in the
recent onslaught of comic book cinema. It is because the characters
in that movie sound like Steph’s description of her and AJ: “AJ and I are a
case of opposites; furthermore, we come from opposite worlds.”
And, yet, the movie’s
message is that if you are willing to take the time and do the work, the payoff
can be unparalleled. Two people coming from two entirely different worlds can
not only work together but thrive, make each other better as individuals, and
together make up a team in which together they become even stronger
than the sum of the team’s parts.
That is Steph and AJ’s
story, in its essence.
That is why AJ, who still
maintains Steph is his Wonder Woman, says, “She gives me the drive and purpose
to be a better man and to wake up every morning with the intentions of doing
Godly work that will have lasting effects.”
That is why Steph says, “He’s
the best person I know. He’s made me a better person and encourages me in
all aspects of my life. He’s my number one teammate and I’m lucky he’s on
my team.”
