Although we both grew up in north Jersey, we didn't know each other then. We also both lived on Devoe Street in Brooklyn, but still hadn't met. Annmarie moved to Bed-Stuy. Ian moved to Meserole Street.
Then in 2013 we met at Spuyten Duyvil, a local bar serving fancy beers and cheese plates. We sat at the bar for seven hours before realizing we needed something to eat. Ian knew Brooklyn Star would still be serving dinner at 11 p.m. on Sunday night.
A few months later Annmarie and Ian took a trip to Montauk. Annmarie posted a photo of Ian on the internet -- and suddenly her parents knew about him.
Then in 2014, they moved into together. Or rather, Annmarie moved into the one bedroom, rent regulated apartment Ian already lived in. It was small. They endured mice infestations, loud steam heat, cold steam heat, too hot steam heat. But it was rent stabilized...
2018 was a big year for weddings. Ian's brother Garret was married, twice. In March, Ian and Annmarie jetsetted to Netherlands to attend a secret wedding. A few months later they were in France at the Chateau Craon where Garret and Jackie were married.
Soon after, Ian and Annmarie were back in Brooklyn preparing for their wedding. They shot guns at a couples' bridal shower at Tiro A Segno of New York, an Italian social club. Ian toured the local breweries with a large number of men, and Annmarie sang karaoke at a secret club.
The night before the wedding, Annmarie and Ian had a quiet drink at Tuffet, a local wine and cheese bar, before meeting up with their family and wedding party at Ammazzacaffè, a nouveau Italian restaurant.
The following day at the Greenpoint Loft overlooking the East River waterfront, they married as the sun set. A light flurry of snow added to the magic. Champagne flowed. Negroni were mixed. Speeches were made.
The officiant was Annick Lamar, of the Hamiltom Lamars. Instead of cake, they cut giant gummy bears, which was wildly untraditional.
After the wedding they took a short mini moon to Maine. On their way, they stopped in Hudson, New York; Bennington and Brattleboro, Vermont; and Portsmith, New Hampshire.
There saw many lighthouses.
In the fall of 2019, Annmarie and Ian finally took a honeymoon. They flew directly from New York to Tokyo befor boarding a high-speed train to Kyoto.
Beacuse of the twelve hour time difference, the first few days they woke before dawn. They leveraged this super power to their advantage, arriving at busy tourist sites before the crowds
In Koyoto they explored ancient temples and the emporers' palaces. They saw the deer of Nara and hiked around UNESCO world heritage sites. In an Osaka bar, they chatted with a retired petro-chemical executive who had racked up more than a million lifetime miles traveling between Tokyo and Spain.
In Tokyo, they ate conveyor belt sushi and Waygu beef, ascended to the top of Tokyo Tower, and even took the subway at rush hour. By accident they stumbled across the Tori-no-ichi festival where crowds of people crushed into tiny streets to celebrate with food and drink.
Little did anyone know what was on the horizon.
By early 2020, Ian began stocking up on medical grade masks and hiding toilet paper under the bed. Nethertheless, in February Annmarie and Ian attended a wedding, the opera, ate in restaruants, rode the subway. Everything seemed normal until it wasn't.
Ian's brother, Garret MacAllen, returned from the Netherlands to start a new job. Everyoen met up for drinks even as the city began shutting down.
Two days later the city closed. The pandemic had arrived
.
Ian began working from home in March. Annmarie already worked from home on some days, but now they were both working from home in the one bedroom apartment. It was small, but it was rent stabilized.
Although the pandemic began to take its toll, Annmarie and Ian were able to spend time at his parents' home on Cape Cod. His brother Garret and sister-in-law Jackie and cat newphew Wilby, expelled from Netherlands at the start of the pandemic, had taken up residence in the family cottage.
It was then, during the warm summer months, in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century, Annmarie and Ian decided to have a child.
Nine months later, out popped "Eastham."