My husband and I met because of the Cincinnati Reds.
At a Chicago bar near Wrigley Field where I was slinging wings, Dale walked in wearing a Reds tee. Because of the Reds (aaand his beautiful eyes), I just had to meet him.
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The first time he came to Cincy --
with me, but, also, EVER; inexplicably, he had been a Reds fan his whole life growing up in Michigan --
my Aunt Patty attempted to wipe off the Reds' wishbone "C" tattoo on his arm.
She licked her thumb and rubbed, in disbelief that it was real.
In fact, he had commissioned the ink a year before he met Aunt Patty, on the day the Reds fell into last place, to show that he was a true fan.

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I actually started reading Sports Illustrated when it became clear that Dale and I were going to be a thing.
I mean, I really was a Cincinnati gal, but the only stats I knew for sure about the Reds were that Pete Rose liked the fried fish at Montgomery Inn Boathouse restaurant, that Johnny Bench was my friend Stephanie's neighbor, and that former player Ron Oester's kids attended the same grade school as me. That's it.
I made a point of stepping up my own understanding.

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Great American Ballpark, home of the Reds, opened five days before our wedding.
We had our rehearsal dinner at Montgomery Inn Boathouse, and afterwards, Dale took all of his groomsmen to a Cincinnati Reds game.
On their way into the game, the guys helped him find his personalized brick in the breezeway outside the stadium's entrance.
During the game, he got a shoutout on the big screen.
And then, after our sacramental ceremony the next day, the team's mascot, Mr. Red himself, walked us into our wedding reception.

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Since that night in 2003, we made our middle daughter's middle name "Anderson," after Sparky Anderson who was managing the Reds the years we were born,
Dale worked at the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum for a short stint,
and recently, he even got to take batting practice from former player George Foster inside the ballpark. (He hit a homerun! For real!)

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As I write, the Cincinnati Reds are on fire. At the top of their division.
We've wrapped most of our April days watching a game. And we've awakened most of our April mornings to a flurry of texts from my mom who feels like she's reliving the Big Red Machine of the '70s.
We'll be superfans no matter what -- Dale's tattoo isn't going anywhere -- but it sure is fun when they're winning.
May 19th will mark 25 years since we met, and we're still root-root-rooting for the home team.

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Reds fans are THE BEST.
LoveLoveLove,

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