Kaime and Mitch’s chance meeting feels like a love story straight out of a classic Hollywood film. From their days as students at The Academy to 45 years of marriage, their relationship is a testament to the power of humor, thoughtfulness, and fate. As Valentine’s Day approaches, they share the story of how it all began, the sweetest gestures that kept their love strong, and the secret to a lasting partnership.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The meet-cute you two had through The Academy: could you share it with us? We’re dying to hear it.
Kaime: Mitch had already done a semester at school. I was the late arrival, with my sessions starting in January. We hadn’t even met each other at school. I was so focused on my classes and wasn’t thinking about dating or anything like that. I was totally focused.
It was the beginning of the year, and one of my classmates was having a party. I’d been in Mexico horseback riding and lounging on the beach – I didn’t want to go to a party! But my friend called me and said, “Kaime, come on, aren’t you coming to this party?” She told me there was this really cute guy [on the phone] that I should talk to. They pass the phone between about four different people before Mitch gets it. He was trying to sound really cool and debonair. I decided to play along; “I’m in satin sheets” and blah blah blah.
Mitch: I was coming from a party in Hollywood we gave up on around 11 o’clock. I was driving on the 101, saying, “All I want to do is just meet a nice girl and stay home with her and watch movies – enough of these parties and clubs.” I was getting tired of that.
Kaime: He’s trying to be nice and not say everyone was hitting on him. Everybody was hitting on him.
Mitch: When I pulled up to the apartment building in Pasadena, I waited outside until I recognized somebody. When I went in, it was a very small apartment with only a handful of people. After about two or three minutes, I was ready to leave until my friend told me, “Hey, Mitch, I’m talking to this beautiful blonde here,” and gave the phone over to me. She went into the “I was just in Mexico…I’m just laying in satin sheets now,” so I played along a bit: “What are you doing – well, why don’t you come out to this party?”
Kaime: Fast-forward to the very next day, and that friend who put us on the phone invited me out for a champagne brunch in Pasadena. She said, “Oh, let’s go and chat about last night!” We were stopped at a red light on the way there. I was sitting in the passenger seat, and my friend said to me, “You know that guy that you were on the phone with last night? He’s right next to us in that car.” I looked over, and there was Mitch in the passenger seat. The light turned green, and they were off! We pulled into the restaurant for brunch, and both said, “Well, that was kind of weird, wasn’t it?” He called me later that day.
Mitch: We’re driving in the car. This is a Sunday morning in Pasadena: there’s nobody around. We get to this stoplight, and I look over and do a double-take. Kaime’s friend has her window down, waving at us; “Mitch, do you want to see the girl you were talking to last night?” I lean forward to look, and my friend just takes off like we’re in a race. I thought, “Wow, that’s neat and kind of strange.”
Kaime: Out of the millions of people in LA, we kept running into each other. That situation happened to us a couple more times.
His mother was visiting from Canada. We were again stuck at a red light, this time on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. There he was. We weren’t dating yet, but I thought to myself, “I keep running into this guy!”
We arranged to meet after class one time. While I was waiting outside The Academy, I remember thinking, “Wow, I have butterflies.” The first date was great, and we decided to have another. We went on a double date because, supposedly, he got scared of being alone with me.
I was on the phone with my mother, telling her about this guy I’d had a few dates with. I went on and on–“He’s so annoying and just so irritating!”–and my mother goes, “Uh huh.” She knew he’d sparked my interest.
He always makes me laugh, and in the blink of an eye, here we are 45 years later.
We’re publishing this piece for Valentine’s Day, so I wonder if either of you might share a memory associated with that day?
Kaime: Well, I gotta tell you, he has everybody beat on this aspect. During the summer between first and second year, he’d gone home to Canada to work and make money. The sweetest thing he did was send me a single long-stem rose every Saturday for the entire summer. It was pretty romantic.
Mitch: I made sure they got there before five o’clock because that way, if she had anything planned for that evening, she was going to feel guilty. [They both laugh.]
Kaime: And it worked.
One reason I fell for Mitch was that he was always thoughtful and sensitive, and doing nice things like that. It made him stand out above everyone else. So it wasn’t just on Valentine’s Day; he did things like that every day.
You’re coming up on 45 years together. What’s the secret to marital bliss?
Mitch: You have to have a sense of humor. You have to have a sense of humor.
Kaime: What happens with a good sense of humor is that comedy is the derailing of a train of thought; when you are making somebody laugh, it’s because you’re being so serious. Mitch has this great sense of humor; he says things with so much conviction, that you believe it. He really makes me laugh.
The second most important thing is communication. Be each other’s best friend.
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