After graduating from BYU I was working in Washington D.C. at WashingtonPost.com selling advertising. It was a perfect singles life. There was always something going on, and incredible people all around to do things with.
I met Geoff at a party. He was visiting D.C. a few months before moving there to start up the Grameen Foundation. We immediately connected as friends. I loved his passion for life. But there was no romantic interest for either of us. When he moved to the area in the Spring of 1997 we would see each other at church activities, and social gatherings, and I thought he was a great guy, but he was too energetic for me. He seemed to bounce off the walls. He dated my roommate that summer. I have a picture of us on a double date, and another at a murder mystery party where he was with my roommate and I with someone else.
I was the leader of the 12-18-year-old girls in a youth group of a nearby Spanish-speaking congregation. Geoff was soon asked to be the leader of the young men of the same age. Our lives intermingled quite a bit. He was dating a lot of people I knew. I heard and saw how fun he was; how thoughtful he was; how romantic he was, and I continued to think he was a really great person. In the late fall of that year I mentioned to a group of friends that I wished I could find someone like Geoff Davis. He was everything I wanted, but I wasn't attracted to him in a romantic way.
In early December Geoff had a conversation with his friends on their way back from a weekend trip to New York. They were playing some sort of elimination game asking each other, "Who would you rather date (or kiss or whatever - some single-guy game), girl A or girl B?...B or C?...B or D?" Apparently my name won out question after question. It surprised Geoff. He hadn't thought of me much before.
My roommates and I were hosting a Christmas party that year. Geoff offered to come early "to help out". He was really coming to try to look at me in a new way. He was asking himself, "Could I be attracted to her?" Geoff decided, yes, he felt a growing attraction to me. I had no idea.
As many of us were heading to our family's homes for Christmas I decided to throw myself a birthday party near Park City, as many of us would be in Utah and my birthday is on December 23rd. We were going sleigh riding in Midway. I told Geoff about it, and asked if he would be able to make it. No, he was going to California, but he promised to send me a present. I gave him my brother's address where I would be staying. "Gosh," I thought, "Geoff Davis is such a nice guy. First he comes early to help out with our Christmas party, and now he is going to send me a present!" I still had no feeling for him.
On my birthday I checked the mail for the present. Nothing. The next day...nothing. I checked the mail every day and there was no present from Geoff. And my anticipation began to surprise me. Why was I so anxious to get this present? I remember telling my great friend Hayley, "I think there is a guy in D.C. that I might like. And I think I could get him to ask me out." By the time I returned to D.C. for a New Year's Eve party I was dying to see Geoff. Somehow my heart had changed. I had a huge crush.
Meanwhile Geoff was in California thinking of what he could send for my birthday. He remembers shopping with his sister Ingrid and trying to find just the right thing to send just the right message. He wanted to say enough, but not too much. As he deliberated about it he was surprised that he was making such a big deal about it. "Why is this such a big deal to me?" He told his sister that he might be starting to like the girl he was buying the gift for. He DID send the present. I had just given him the wrong zip code. It arrived in D.C. a few weeks later, forwarded by my brother.
So here we are both going to a New Year's Eve party not having any idea that the other has had a miraculous change of heart also. It was like fireworks. There was a total connection. And we were together every day after that. Our friendship/relationship moved forward effortlessly for 11 months until we were married in the Salt Lake temple on November 28, 1998.
The past 13 years have been quite an adventure. The fall after we were married we moved to Cambridge, MA for two years at Harvard's Kennedy School. That was an incredible experience. Tennie was born our first Spring there. In between those two years we spent the summer in Mexico: Sonora and Chiapas. Tennie was 3-5 months old. After Harvard we moved to Redmond, Washington where Geoff was CEO of Unitus, a start-up. We were there seven years. We met amazing people who shaped our early family life. We added Adele and Ceci to our family. We had a great life there. Then after several years of warning symptoms, Geoff's health crashed. His adrenal system failed. The doctor gave us two choices: a lifetime of hormone replacement or a year+ with no responsibility, an exact diet to regulate the metabolic system, regular sunshine for vitamin D, a heart rate maintained below 95HBM, and intense supplement treatments to jumpstart his body again. Geoff stepped down from Unitus, we sold our house, packed up our things and put them in storage, and moved to Southern France for a year of treatment and healing. It was a hard and glorious year. It changed us. But after a year Geoff's health wasn't 100% so we moved in with his parents for a "short period" that has continued for over 2 years now. In addition to all of these changes, we started homeschooling in France (and still do) to take advantage of Geoff being around so much!
And what will be next? How will our story continue? We don't know, yet. One thing I know, though, and that is that I am forever grateful to be married to Geoff. He is my best friend. He is a fair, thoughtful, selfless, and kind teammate. When one of us is down the other carries the load without complaint. I feel that Geoff is always looking out for me; looking for what he can do to lighten my load or make my life happy. I strive to follow his example and do the same for him. Our thirteen years have been exciting, and during these past few years, very challenging. But somehow as I face the bumpy roads with Geoff at my side it feels like an adventure, something we are doing together, and I know everything will not only be alright, it will be GREAT! And it has been. Our life together is great.
