Trish and Winston met in a meet-cute. Trish's friend Sandy and Winston's friend Greg, a married couple who was living in New York, were supposed to be in town. They had invited friends to meet up with them at a bowling alley. But Sandy was pregnant and not feeling well, and they never made their flight. Still, Greg's friends (including Winston) and Sandy's friends (including Trish) managed to find one another and made quite a night and morning of it.

Trish says: "We bar-hopped until 3 a.m. At the end of the night, we declared that we'd all go to NYC to visit Greg and Sandy and continue the good times."

A week later, Trish got an email from Winston saying he was serious about the trip. Was she? He'd rally the guys. Could she rally the ladies?

She says: "This may sound completely random, but keep in mind I went to high school with Sandy, and Winston met Greg in kindergarten. I'd heard stories about him since Sandy and Greg got married. He was a good guy, came from a great family, and was one of Greg's closet friends, etc. So when he suggested the trip, I just thought of him as a nice guy getting a group together for fun."

Unfortunately, neither of them had any luck rallying the troops, so after a few weeks, Winston emailed Trish and said he'd booked a trip over Columbus Day weekend. She told him she'd do the same.

Trish says: "I said once our friends see we're going, they'll book their flights, too. That was on September 10, 2001."

After 9/11, no one was eager to fly to New York. Trish and Winston emailed back and forth, debating whether to go.

She says: "We decided if the planes were flying, we'd go. I was on the way to the airport thinking, Am I dumb? Is this really a safe thing to do, go to NYC with a guy I've only met once? Is it going to be awkward? Will we have anything to talk about?"

The weekend was great. They went sightseeing, just the two of them, and learned about each other.

She says: "I had made several assumptions about Winston — that he must be a meathead because he was a former Big 10 college football player, the second of five sons, and a fraternity boy, too. But I discovered, while we walked around Ground Zero, Chinatown, Soho, and the Upper West Side, that he's kind and compassionate, a family guy who understands people and wants to be a dad. Just a solid guy who can be counted on."

On their last day in New York, Trish came down with a bad sore throat. Before they got a cab to go to the airport, Winston said he had to run a quick errand. While they were sitting at the gate waiting for their flight, he said, "I got you some things that I thought would make you feel better." Out of his backpack he pulled People magazine, diet Sprite and saltines.

She says: "While I was sitting there reading the magazine, I said to myself, 'This is it. This is the guy I'm going to marry.' And now here we are, married with three beautiful girls. Sometimes I have nightmares worrying about what would have happened if I hadn't taken that trip."

How did you know you met The One? Send your tale, along with your questions, problems and rants to [email protected]. And check out my e-books, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."