We love love. So in the vibrant spirit of Valentine’s day, here are some of our favorite faculty love stories: 

Student Life Associate Kevin Kelly and Language teacher Xiao Feng Kelly first met when Mrs. Kelly was invited to the University of Maine in Farmington as an exchange professor from Beijing. Mr. Kelly happened to be taking classes there, and the two first met during a fateful exchange at the dining hall. Going to school in Hawaii for three years, Mr. Kelly said, “I was really really good at looking at people’s nationalities … so I went up to [Mrs. Kelly] and I said, ‘Excuse me, are you from China?’” Mr. Kelly jokes that it was “Not the best opening line,” but soon enough, the couple was skiing down Mount Sugarloaf in Maine on their first date. Mrs. Kelly said, “I never thought, after teaching so many years, that I would come to the United States and meet some American guy in the dining hall!” Now, Mr. Kelly and Mrs. Kelly have been together for 31 years, with two daughters and a granddaughter who recently turned one. They said they really just love being together with family, whether it is over the holidays, going out for dinner, or witnessing their granddaughter first try to walk while holding onto the couch. 

Senior Associate Director of Admission Dana Emerson and Science Teacher Toby Emerson’s story starts at a Halloween party. In around three years time (including two breakups, after both of which Mr. Emerson admits he “came back on his own”), Mr. Emerson planned to pop the big question at a golf course. However, the week of the planned proposal, Mrs. Emerson fainted and split her lip open against the bathroom counter, as well as sliced her ring finger on a broken glass. Mr. Emerson, however, decided that the show must go on–he says he still brought “his bride” down to the golf course, where, after his proposal, he discovered that the ring did not fit on Mrs. Emerson’s “swollen bloody finger,” Mrs. Emerson explained. She also recalls that after the proposal, Mr. Emerson made them continue the round of golf. Now married nearly 30 years, Mr. Emerson says that their favorite dates include walking their dogs and watching the sunset at the beach on the Cape. Mr. Emerson is proud of the things their love has withstood, including one anecdote he shared: when Mr. Emerson was driving with Mrs. Emerson and their one-year-old son, who had started crying hysterically and vomited. Mrs. Emerson says that she knew “our son Zeke was going to get sick and [Mr. Emerson] refused [to pull over]” even after she repeatedly insisted, and “I got so mad that I chucked the puke at the side of his head. I knew that he really loved me.”

Spanish Teacher Yoel Castillo Botello and his partner Elad Carmel’s story is deeply rooted in their academia and research. Profe Botello, a scholar of Iberian literature and performance, first met Dr. Carmel, a scholar of British history and philosophy, when they were going to conferences in New York City. Profe Botello says that “actually, it was really nice, because we met at Stonewall, which really is a very important iconic bar for the LGBTQ movement in New York City.” While their story begins in a city, Profe Botello says that “because of COVID, we really started prioritizing, going out and doing hikes, and finding beautiful places to visit and to walk by, and I think that that has become our most important way of dating.” As a couple, one of their favorite spots includes the National Park in New Hampshire.