Erin and Justin's story

We are both from Kansas and went to the same Deaf school, but because we were in different class years, we never talked- not even a hi. We just walked by each other like we were complete strangers, never mind how small our school is.

When I competed in Miss Deaf Kansas, he watched the competition and wanted to come and say "congratulations" when I got crowned, but as he got closer to me, he became nervous. He told me he thought I would be snobby because I did not know who he was. 

2 years later at HMB, our paths crossed again.

Erin's side of the story:

I was living in California and visited my friends at Gallaudet just for fun. It was during their NSO week. I was chatting with a dear friend at the HMB computer lab. I'm not sure if it exists today, but it was on the 2nd floor, by the staircase and vending machines. While we were chatting, I glanced over and saw a group of students walking by and I recognized Justin. I told my friend, "aww, more KSD kids are at Gallaudet... this makes me proud!"    She told me to tell them hello! I told her, "No, I don't even know him. I just recognized him. I never talked with him before." The group passed me.

The same moment, Justin's side of the story:

He was chatting with his friends as he walked toward the HMB computer lab and saw me. He became nervous and wasn't sure if he should say hi because we had never said hello, but then he saw me chatting with my friend and thought I was too busy and he did not want to interrupt. So he just walked by me. 

No "hi" from either of us. Again. 

I flew back to California and that night, and I received a message on MySpace from Justin Brown. I was puzzled... I was thinking, is that the same Justin Brown, the KSD Justin Brown? So I opened it and tru-biz, it was the KSD Justin Brown and the same Justin I saw at HMB. He sent me a LONG message saying he saw me at HMB and wanted to say hello, but I was "too busy" so he didn't. He asked me several questions like why was I living in California, etc. and explained about himself. In the closing message, he gave me his AIM (yes, it's been this long) username.

I did not want to Instant Message (IM) him first so I replied back with a very brief message explaining why I was living in California and gave him my AIM username instead.

It was midnight, 3 hours difference between California and DC, and my sidekick (yes, it's been this long!) light flashed. I checked. He sent me an IM! I went, WHAT?! It's 3am in DC. I decided I wasn't going to keep him up all night because clearly, he had classes in a few hours.

I ignored his message and went to sleep.

The next day, I replied to his IM and we hit it off. We chatted and chatted. We flirted. He was so much fun to chat with. I told him I was coming to Gallaudet for homecoming. He asked if we could go together. My response was: I am going with my friends. (Ouch?). 

When I was in DC, he asked if we could meet and this time, I was nervous. I had heard stories where people hit it off on social media, but in person, it was completely different. I did not want it to be awkward. We met at the SAC computer lab and just to confirm my suspicion, it was awkward. He said hello. I said hello. And that was it. Moment of silence. Awkwardness emerged.  Then I pretended that I needed to meet my friend and he said sure, he had a practice to go to anyway so we parted ways. I thought to myself, this is real. People can chat on social media and not in person. 

I guess homecoming week has some kind of love potion because that night, I asked if we could meet up and we did. We chatted ALL night at Hanson Plaza parking lot until it was 7am. I went "Oh no, you have classes!" He replied that was okay and he went to his classes. I went to my friend's room and SLEPT! Poor him. 

Just before I left DC, he asked me if he could visit me in California because he always wanted to visit the state. I told him, sure, come and visit... as friends! He agreed.

Except... feelings grew. We have been together for 15 years and married for almost eight years now and have two beautiful kids together.

Gallaudet is the place where our sparks ignited and became a fire! Gallaudet, thank you for whatever love potion you had for us, our cupid in disguise?