A Forbes' Top 100 Love Story
Barry had been working in Union’s bookstore while Lisa was a student. During her junior year, a friend suggested that she and Barry would be a great match. But with a four-year age difference, Lisa’s initial response was, “He’s way too old for me!” During Lisa’s senior year, they spent a lot of time together in the Business Division, and Lisa was in some of Barry’s classes. Lisa described the moment when her feelings for Barry started to change:
Lisa: A little bit into the spring semester, I was having guy trouble. I was really confused and I thought, “I just need a guy’s perspective on this” so we sat down and we chatted for a few hours, and somewhere in the middle of that conversation, it dawned on me, ‘This is a really neat guy.’
When they finally decided to pursue a relationship around spring break, they had to go to each professor in the Business and Computer Science Division for permission because Barry was a professor and Lisa was still a senior. Barry said that the only reason their relationship was approved was because Lisa was such a good student.
Lisa remembers feeling more and more comfortable the more she was around Barry. She said they soon became best friends. The summer after Lisa graduated, she and Barry road-tripped to Seattle for a wedding, stopping to see the sights along the way. Lisa recalls thinking during this trip, ‘I could marry this guy.’ And sure enough, a year after they started dating, Barry popped the question at Holmes Lake. They were married six months later in November. Lisa and Barry shared a couple of secrets that have been key to their relationship:
Lisa: It’s wonderful being married to your best friend. One thing that we chose to do early on and it has served us so well – we chose to never say cutting or negative things about the other in public.
Barry: We know that we’re going to get somebody that’s one hundred percent behind us.
Lisa: Barry is my biggest fan, and I have done more than I probably would’ve because of him cheering me on.
Hannah Drewieck is a sophomore studying business administration.