John Scarffe, Nederland. Karen Gerrity met her husband Orrin Snyder on St. Patrick’s Day 25 years ago and married five weeks later on Earth Day. They met on the dance floor, and it’s a magical story. They are celebrating 25 years together this spring.

Karen was an administrator at a nonprofit school and had gone through a tough divorce. She was not ready to get seriously involved with a romantic partner. That day at work, some of the teachers invited her to a St. Patrick’s Day house party in Boulder. 

Karen thanked them and said she couldn’t go because she had no care for her two small children. A little while later, one of the afterschool teachers said she had talked to her husband and they invited Karen’s two kids to spend the night with them. 

Karen tried to turn down the offer, which was met with, “How are you ever going to start dating if you don’t put yourself out there!” Karen agreed and joined her teacher friends as they headed to the party.

Orrin worked in sales for a company that sold consumable office products. He had gone through a difficult divorce and had been spending much of his free time with “the chucks,” a group of single men who also had gone through divorces or break-ups. 

They played softball together on several teams, and after games would head to local eating and drinking establishments. Some of them were invited to a St. Patrick’ Day house party.

Orrin had been partying with his friends “the chucks” for a couple years and was growing tired of the scene. Orrin loved to dance and so while at the party, he left his friends and headed to a room where he heard they had dancing.

Once at the party, Karen began to feel uncomfortable with the huge crowd, and the focus seemed to be drinking beer. She found her friends and said she would be leaving. 

One of them said they were surprised Karen would leave since there was a room set up for dancing. Karen loved to dance and decided to check out the room, which was hidden away off a hallway at one end of the house.

When she arrived, she saw that a man, Orrin, was dancing alone in the center of the room, so she started dancing as well. As the music continued, the two dancers began to orbit around each other with their circles growing closer. At one point, they almost made eye contact, quickly looked away and continuing to dance. 

Both Karen and Orrin have said a magnetic pull happened, and they flowed with it. After several songs, they agreed to meet outside, under the full moon. Neither had gotten a very good look at the other at this point.

She checked in with her friends and pointed out Orrin to them through the kitchen window. Wow, she noticed, he sure is a good-looking guy. 

Karen headed out for their agreed upon meeting. They were in the backyard and the full moon was showing brightly over them as they talked about being single parents, how both had lost their Irish fathers, and how neither of them wanted to get married or have more kids at this point in their lives.

Orrin asked for Karen’s number. Karen thought it was better if Orrin gave her his number so he did. She said she would call him the next day. They brushed cheeks before parting and Karen walked to her car holding her head wondering what had just happened. 

When Orrin walked to his car a little later, he was also holding his head and wondering what had just hit him. The next day was Saturday. Karen and her teacher friends were going to attend a wine tasting benefit event in Ft. Collins. 

Karen was living in Loveland, so she called her friends and asked if they would be willing to pick Orrin up and bring him along, should he want to attend as well. They agreed to carpool with him, so Karen gave him a call. He enthusiastically agreed to go. 

One of Karen’s friends said to Orrin, “You must really like wine,” to which he replied, “No, I really like Karen.” At the event, Karen and Orrin got to know each other better and discovered that they held the same core values. 

They spent most of the evening on the dance floor, and this time they were looking closely at each other and into each other’s eyes. As Karen was being dropped off at her home, Orrin walked her to the door and they exchanged a warm kiss and embrace. 

He told her he had plans to ski the next day and he would call her either before or after skiing. The next day, they talked on the phone and deeply shared more about their experiences and children. 

Karen offered to cook dinner for Orrin the following night and to introduce him to her two kids. The next night, Orrin drove from his place in Boulder to Karen’s place in Loveland and he experienced all green lights. Not one red light. He took this as a sign. 

Orrin was engaging and fun with Karen’s children and the dinner went well. Karen and Orrin agreed to see other again on Wednesday night, which turned out to be a pizza dinner with his son. Karen fell immediately in love with the boy.

They met again on Thursday night and when they returned to his place after dinner, Orrin held Karen in his arms and sang her a Nat King Cole song, Nature Boy and then proposed. He said it would be crazy if they didn’t get married. 

Karen accepted the proposal and they talked about how they both felt that their dads had intervened on their behalf from the other side of the veil on that St. Patrick’s evening under the full moon. They married five weeks later on Earth Day in a private ceremony at their home with their kids as witnesses. 

“Blending a family has been the most challenging and rewarding adventure, and adding another child to the equation made it the perfect blend,” Orrin said. Together they faced the tough times such as burying twin girls and two parents along with the uplifting times such as purchasing their mountain home and spending family time playing in the great outdoors.

“The past 25 years have been filled with joy and sorrow, love and laughter, trials and tribulations, and lots of dancing,” Karen said.

(Originally published in the February 13, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)