Back in 2007, Maike had decided, on very short notice, to take a trip to NYC, a city she had longed to visit but had never been.  Needing a break from house guests, she booked a trip from her home in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on July 11 to arrive in NYC on July 13, with only a couple objectives given her limited planning: visit a few galleries and museums, shop and spend one hour at Henrietta Hudson, a lesbian bar on Saturday July 14.

Meanwhile, Linda, living in NYC, was in a School of Womanly Arts workshop on July 14 and was given an assignment to kiss someone she thought was “hot”.  This assignment was bestowed upon Linda when she expressed a desire to have a really long, lingering, sexy kiss with someone she thought was gorgeous.  Not only was it waaaaay out of Linda’s comfort zone to have a long, sensual kiss with someone she just met, but inconceivable that she would find someone gorgeous in such a short period of time.

So of course she accepted the assignment.

After Linda’s workshop, there was an after-party in which two friends, William Neal and Juan Munoz, asked Linda if she had ever heard of Henrietta Hudson.  Linda, being a workaholic, had not been to a single lesbian bar in NYC, let alone Henrietta Hudson.  So in the spirit of meeting someone to kiss, Linda, Juan and William went to Henrietta’s that very evening.

William was the first to see and talk with Maike.  Linda was out on the dance floor most of the time, having fun with Juan, just enjoying herself, dancing away.  When Linda got off the dance floor she noticed Maike immediately, and they exchanged a few really nice glances. William continued to talk with Maike for what seemed like an hour!  (Unbeknownst to Linda, William and Juan were travelling to Amsterdam in two weeks and William was practicing his Dutch.)  So at some point Linda had to interrupt to somehow talk with this beautiful girl.

There is more to that evening, but yes, Linda and Maike did have a very nice kiss, and had their official first date the following evening.

What was also exceptional about their meeting was that Linda had a planned visit by her mom, arriving a few days after Maike and Linda met. Linda’s mother lived in Florida and this was her first and only trip to NYC while Linda was working there.  So Maike and Linda’s mom were able to not only meet, but also spend some wonderful quality time together.

And if that wasn’t amazing enough, Linda’s brother Jamie (Jim) flew in from Chicago that Friday evening…. and so her mom, brother and close friend Monica all had a long and luxurious dinner with the two of them.

 

Our meeting was magical and effortless… and remains the same to this day… happily, legally married in Amsterdam