At the start of my senior year at Earlham College, I was assigned a room in a house out in Brick City. My roommate was Stephen Miklethun. Steve was a member of the class of '82 but had fallen behind because he had taken some time off, and I did not know him before the start of the year. Sometime in early October, Stephen invited me to a little dinner gathering at the off-campus apartment of a friend; a woman he had dated and apparently still had feelings for. It was pretty unusual for me to go to something like this, since I didn’t expect to know anyone, but I agreed to go. As near as I can determine, it was Friday, October 9, 1981. I walked in to Kate's little studio apartment, stuck out my hand and announced, "Hi, I'm Mike and I'm a hilarious guy." That's all it took. Somewhere in those words Kate was intrigued. I couldn't stay late because I had two radio shows that evening: the oldies from 7 to 9, and the more raucous musical hour with Pete Tagtmeyer from midnight to 2 am. I remember playing Elvis Presley’s Teddy Bear and dedicating it to Kate on the Oldies show. I called her during the later show, but her landlady answered. I was unaware she did not have a phone of her own, and while I was told to call back and just let it ring until Kate answered, I wasn’t confident enough to call a second time. I was smitten from that first evening. There was something about this beautiful woman and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Saturday night came and went without comment, but somehow on Sunday we both ended up at the Waffle House studying. As I recall, Kate called out to my place and Steve told her I was headed up there. She just “happened” to run into me and we didn't study too much. It was a wonderful night over books, coffee and perhaps some food, although the menu has long since been lost. On Monday evening Kate came out to Brick City to visit. I’m not really sure if she came out ostensibly to see Steve, or to see me. Steve and I were playing backgammon, and the loser had to buy a pizza from Dominos. Steve lost, ordered the pizza and then left so Kate and I could enjoy it together. We were never apart after that. I would tell anyone that you don’t commit yourself to someone you don’t know. And you can’t know someone after a couple days. But I did commit myself to Kate and there was never any doubt in my mind. This woman was special and while she was different in many respects from other women I dated, I knew very quickly that I had found my mate. I don't know exactly what happened to Stephen. I heard he was doing construction, and planning on dental school. Where ever he ended up, he changed my life. It's a cliché', but no less true, Kate was everything to me: my love, my inspiration, my security, my life, and it all came together because Stephen offered to take me to dinner. Thanks Steve, where ever you are.