A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps. In 2008, after years of being single and going on bad dates, Melissa Nagy decided to look for love online. She matched with a man named Ernest Son.
MELISSA SON: When I saw your profile, I thought, man, this is the first guy after a year of doing this online dating thing that I actually am excited to meet.
MARTÍNEZ: They exchanged messages. But before they could plan an actual date, they ended up crossing paths in an unexpected place. Ernest and Melissa, now married, told that story to their teenage daughter, Sophie.
M SON: I worked for this small company. And we were interviewing for a mechanical engineer. At the time, I was a director. And so I was on the team of people that did the interviews. And I opened the door, and Daddy's there.
SOPHIE SON: (Laughter).
M SON: And I was like, that's the guy. I don't know what to do. This is a conflict of interest.
ERNEST SON: I knew that it was you when you poked your head in. But I had to focus on the task at hand, which was to nail the interview.
M SON: I remember making eye contact. And so I'm like, oh, my gosh, he likes me (laughter).
E SON: Yeah.
M SON: I was convinced that he would be like, no, I choose the girl. But (laughter) that's not the way it worked out.
E SON: (Laughter).
SOPHIE: So you took the job?
M SON: He took the job, not the girl. He had a different objective than I did.
SOPHIE: I see.
M SON: I was disappointed. But I just thought, OK, that's that. We're professionals, and now we work together. But then one day, finally, you were like, hey, we should go to lunch sometime. And at that point, I thought, well, I go to lunch with everyone else at work. No big deal. And then one lunch...
E SON: Led to a dinner.
M SON: Led to a drink. And then I had to tell my boss, I'm sort of dating Ernest. And he literally went, no, no, no, no, no.
SOPHIE: (Laughter).
M SON: And then, I think, within three months...
E SON: I was laid off.
M SON: And the rest, you know...
E SON: As they say.
M SON: Yeah (laughter).
E SON: Is history.
M SON: Sophie, you never heard this story.
SOPHIE: I, like, vaguely knew you met at work.
M SON: Yeah. Sophie, you have brought so much joy to our lives. And I think, in all this story, you are actually the best outcome. Like, Daddy and I - yeah, now I'm going to cry. You're so fun and beautiful and lovely. And I don't think we could imagine it without you.
MARTÍNEZ: That was Ernest and Melissa Son with their daughter, Sophie, on their 15th wedding anniversary. Their interview is archived at the Library of Congress.
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