Chrissy (Dalessandro) `03 and Robert Fratena `03
I remember the day vividly. Junior year, Malone College
(now named Malone University!). It was 5pm and I was hungry. None of my friends
were going to the cafeteria to eat. In those days, you didn't dare go alone
to the cafeteria. That would be horrifying. I logged onto the old standby, AOL
instant messenger, and saw one of the guys in my nursing class online. He said
he was going now to eat, so I rushed out to meet him. At the cafeteria, I sat
with his group of friends. It was there that I spotted this cute guy who I had
never seen around campus before! This was unusual because Malone is small,
close-knit community and we pretty much all knew each other. Then, I noticed he
was looking at me, too! I looked him square in the eye and asked, what's
your name? He said, Bob. I responded with a laugh, saying that can't
be your name!
because, to
me, Bob was an old man's name. He smiled and assured me
it truly was his name. You would have thought that kind of direct/blunt (insulting?) communication would
turn a guy off, but after the rest of our conversation that evening, Bob went
back to his dorm and swears it was then that he knew this was the girl he was
going to marry. I later found out that he wasn't planning on eating that
night either as luck (or God) would have it, he was able to squeeze in a few
minutes in between work to grab a bite to eat. God definitely orchestrated that
night! Over that next year, he became my best friend and eventually we started
dating. He asked me to marry him 6 months later. Nearly 18 years, 2 kids, 4
cats, and 1 dog later, we are still happily married! The secret to our success?
Always being able to speak directly to each other and laugh together!
