Cupid Loves Flicking Arrows at Emersonians

We reached out to the Emerson community to share their stories of love if they’re a couple who are both Emersonians. Did we miss you and want to be added to the story? Please email David Ertischek at david_ertischek@emerson.edu.

Surely no one ever signed in Cupid to any of Emerson’s residence halls, but the little imp has been hitting Emersonians with love arrows for decades.

Emerson Today asked couples who met at Emerson to share their stories of how they met and how’d they knew their partner was the one. We got lots of sweet, funny, ridiculous, endearing stories.

Mara Martin ’13 and Jane Martin Dentinger ’14

How did you meet?
I [Jane] moved to [San Francisco] after staying in Massachusetts to get my MBA. Mara had moved here with some other Emerson students after graduating and has now lived here for over 10 years. Many mutual friends told me that I had to reach out to her after moving here.

What was your first date?
The first time we met was at a brunch (that we thought we were setting up as friends) in early 2018. We started spending more time together after I invited Mara to join me at a local accepted students’ event for potential Emerson students. Our first real date was that May – we became inseparable after that and Uhauled three months later. 

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
We walked down the aisle to the London Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of Paul McCartney’s “Calico Skies“. It’s a favorite of mine that Mara suggested we use at the wedding.

Bridget Reed Morawski ’16 and Aaron Anderson ’15

What was your first date?
Our first official date was a double date with another now-engaged Emerson couple at a since-closed but once-famous hot dog stand in Miami.

When did you know your partner was the one?
I [Bridget] was physically attracted to him right away, but I soon loved his quiet goofiness and his default mode being kindness and generosity.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
Ha ha ha. We have such different music taste I just can’t answer this one directly, but I will say we both turn up the volume and shout-sing “Dancing in the Moonlight” whenever it comes up on our playlist.

Jill (Wechter) Arnold ’97, MA ’99 and Matt Arnold ’98, MA ’00

What was your first date?
Bertucci’s in Harvard Square. We took the T there and then walked back along the cobblestone streets in Beacon Hill off Charles Street and kissed under a street lamp. Matthew replicated the date in Summer 2001 and then proposed to me under the same street lamp.

How did you know your partner was the one?
We each had separate desk sitting jobs at Emerson College in our dorm, which was 100 Beacon Street. We began sharing shifts and working double time just to have more time to hang out together. We shared similar values, sent secret notes in phonetic English (because we were speech pathology majors!) and always wanted to spend time together.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love? 
Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” would probably be the best. Although as part of our wedding dance medley we used “More Today Than Yesterday” by The Spiral Starecase which also exemplifies us as a couple. 

Meghan Corless ’18 and Ariel Johnston ’22

When did you meet?
We kinda met for the first time twice! About six months after Ariel graduated, we both met at a sapphic Halloween party. We chatted for a little bit and ultimately parted ways, but we both regretted not getting each other’s number. Fast forward another six months in May of 2023, and we found each other on a dating app and didn’t realize we already met (because of the costumes) until days after we started talking again. To say we were delighted to reconnect is an understatement!

When was your first date?
In early May of 2023 we went to dinner in the North End and then the Sparks After Dark event at the Museum of Science. We knew we shared something special almost from the moment we met each other that night, and it will always be considered one of our most treasured moments.

What song exemplifies your love?
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston! It will forever be our song. We danced to it on our first date and realized almost simultaneously that we wanted to be with each other.

How did you know your partner was the one?
It was almost immediate to Meghan that Ariel was the one. Never before had she felt so emotionally connected to another person so quickly, and so easily. Ariel is so deeply kind to her and consistently meets Meghan where she’s at. She has an infectious laugh and deeply cares for others in a way that shows her true character. Ariel is impossible to not love.

Ariel knew Meghan was the one when her best friend told her that they were so happy that she finally had the partner she deserved, and in that moment she couldn’t agree more. No one had cared about her and understood her better than Meghan, and she realized how lucky she was that the universe ultimately reunited them. It was like hitting the jackpot.

Elizabeth Apple ’22 and Owen Conti ’22

When did you meet?
Owen and I met as freshmen, got engaged on the Boston campus five years later, and now we both are Emerson staff members. Emerson seems to be embedded in our love story!

What was your first date?
Our first date was in April of 2019 and we went to the Arnold Arboretum and then the Friendly Toast for food after.

How did you know your partner was the one?
I like to think I knew Owen was the one that summer after we first met in 2019 — we spent the whole summer at the beach, getting to know each other. We went on lots of dates, read to each other, and just spent time with each other building a friendship. We seemed to finish each other’s sentences and complete each other’s thoughts. I knew he was the one when he started to feel like home.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love? 
Our song, “Apple Pie” by Lizzy McAlpine, captures our love in various places with the lyrics:
I found you under an April sky.
And you feel like city life, apple pie baked just right.
Home is wherever you are tonight.

For instance, “city life” represented our love story at Emerson in the city of Boston and “apple pie baked just right” represented our love story at our New England homes. Meeting in April aligns with the lyrics as well, and ultimately, the song conveys that no matter where we are in the world it feels like home as long as we’re together. Lastly, the lyric, “Let’s rent a place. Two rooms and a window facing buildings and fire escapes. Might be no AC, a little bit cramped, but see if I’m with you it’s okay,” perfectly mirrors our first apartment together as Emerson seniors!

Brian Brooks ’90 and Jodi Rubin Brooks ’91

When did you meet?
We met the fall of 1987 at the Charlesgate dorm.

What was your first date?
Ruby’s, which is now closed.

How did you know your partner was the one?
I [Brian] knew in my heart Jodi was the one since she made me feel like no other while we had a couple dates in college.It was a couple year after graduation when we became best friends when we took our relationship to the next level. Our daughter, Ruby Brooks, is class of 2024!

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
“Broken Arrow” as performed by the Grateful Dead.

Ian Cardoni ’12 and Laura Cryan ’15

When did you meet?
We met through mutual friends, not sure either of us remember a specific time or place.

What was your first date?
Our first date was at The Publick House near Old Sturbridge Village. Years later, it became our wedding venue.

How did you know your partner was the one?
To quote one of the greatest voices of our time: Sometimes there’s no proof, you just know.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
“Jump (For My Love)” by the Pointer Sisters.

Shannon Murphy ’08 and Sean Bennett ‘08

When did you first meet?
We didn’t meet until a few years after graduation. Shout out to Jamie Garabedian ’08, who was the catalyst for us meeting.

What was your first date? 
Sean surprised me and took me whale watching. I was NOT prepared, and got sunburnt. Afterwards, we went to our old Emerson stomping grounds and grabbed food at Sweetwater Tavern.

How did you know your partner was the one? 
When he asked me if I wanted to hear his whale call, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, “HEY, WHALE!”

What song, if any, exemplifies your love? 
Inside joke between the two of us, but “F*ck The Pain Away” by Peaches.

Emily (Lefren-Brown) Zeller ’01 and Patrick Zeller ’99

When did you first meet?
We didn’t date at Emerson, but our paths crossed multiple times. I used to see [Patrick] around Brimmer Street and thought he was so dreamy. My sophomore year, his senior year, I was assigned to props crew on a show he was in at the Majestic (Angels in America), so that’s where we first officially met and became acquaintances. We both happened to move to New York City in 2002, and did a play together with a theater company he started, featuring multiple Emerson alumni, called Present Tense Theater Project. 

Where was your first date?
We had our first date in 2003, camping in Fishkill, New York, after closing that show. It was just supposed to be a rebound fling for both of us, but here we are, 20 years and two kids later.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
We’re trying to think of an exemplifying song…We danced to “Forever” by Ben Harper at our wedding. I sang “Everything” by Michael Buble to him, also at the wedding. “It Takes Two” from Into the Woods might be it. We had our first date in the woods, and then after years of city living, we moved back to the woods during the pandemic, and are writing the next chapter in our family’s life here. 

How did you know your partner was the one?
I knew he was the one when I realized how calm and safe I felt with him, despite the giddiness and butterflies of falling in love. Also, we never got sick of each other. 

He says he knew I was the one when for some inexplicable reason, I was the first girlfriend who, when I started giving him a hard time about always working out of town, his first instinct wasn’t to break up with me but to try to make it work. 

Michelle Macedo ’10 and Jason Perlman ’07

When did you meet?
We met my freshman year at Emerson while I was a freshman and he was a senior. Jason cast me in his television pilot and we stayed friends ever since. We started dating in the pandemic after being friends for many years in LA!

What was your first date?
In May 2020, Jason went to Michelle’s place for a socially distanced hang. After a few hours of talking through face masks they decided social distancing wasn’t going to work for them anymore and entered into a quarantine pod together. COVID was truly the least romantic time in the modern era. But, having been friends for nearly 15 years at the time, it took a global pandemic to help us see what and who we really wanted.

What song, if any, exemplifies your love?
“The Book of Love” by Peter Gabriel. Michelle’s twin sister Melissa sang it at our wedding. That was exactly the seal of approval Jason needed to marry Michelle. Also, brilliant lyrics.

How did you know your partner was the one?
Jason: There are dozens of ways she’s shown me and continues to show me, but I’m thinking that’s a cop out. So, I’ll pick one. When I saw early in our relationship how mad she got on my behalf when someone would wrong or upset me. My problems were her problems. And she didn’t always need to help me solve them for me to feel supported and understood. That feeling was a revelation.

Michelle: From the moment we met at Emerson, I knew we were connected in a deep way. I respected him as a creative and really felt seen by him. Throughout the years, we would continue to meet up (I am from LA) so during my breaks home from Emerson we would hang out and after almost 15 years it finally hit me how much I truly cared about him. I think our friendship is an amazing foundation for our marriage.