Have you ever wondered how some faculty couples first met? You may be surprised to discover that some of these stories began in high school, while others turned into years-long sagas!
Assistant Head for Student Life Amie Creagh used a classic strategy to talk to her post-graduate crush when she was a sophomore at Andover. She said, “I would sit in a section of the library near the door with a book out, pretending to do work, with my backpack on so I could make a quick run out the door when he was leaving.” Since his dorm was across the street from her house, she would “accidentally” bump into Brendan Creagh, now a science teacher at Deerfield, on their way home. Due to these frequent walks, the two became good friends. After he graduated, they kept in touch with one another through letters. He even invited her to watch one of his college hockey games. Although Ms. Creagh attended the game and waved hello, she suddenly became so nervous that she left before the game ended.
Years later, once Mr. Creagh was working at Deerfield and Ms. Creagh was working at Andover, a faculty matchmaker at Andover heard the news that the team Mr. Creagh coached was playing a game at Andover. The two high-school friends chatted and agreed to see one another. After some time of dating Mr. Creagh long-distance, Ms. Creagh got a job at Deerfield. Now we know them as Mr. and Ms. Creagh! You never know, maybe your high-school crush could turn into something more down the line.
Theater Director and Performing Arts Teacher Catriona Hynds recalled that she fell in love with Mr. Hynds “pretty instantly.” They were both working in Houston when they became friends. After a short time, their jobs carried them in separate ways all over the world. One summer, Mrs. Hynds was directing in Scotland when Mr. Hynds asked her if she wanted to accompany him on a six-week trip around Europe. However, Mrs. Hynds recalled, “All this time I was very much in love with him, but we were just friends.” They kept in touch over the next year, until the following summer when they took a five-week sailing trip around Turkey (still just as friends).
After returning to America, they kept in touch over the following months. Again, Mr. Hynds invited her on an exciting trip but this time to spend three months backpacking across Asia (can you believe they were still just friends?!). On their last night in Thailand, they were sitting on a beach under the stars when they officially became a couple. In total, it took four years for them to begin their romantic relationship.
Science Teacher Megan Hayes-Golding first met her wife-to-be through their shared love of soccer. Ms. Hayes-Golding and her wife met while playing on a recreational soccer team in Atlanta called The Clash. She was a goalkeeper and her wife played midfield.
Ms. Hayes-Golding said, “[The team] lost almost every game we played, but always followed up by going out to eat or getting ice cream afterwards.” Slowly, they began to get to know each other better with each practice they attended and each game they played together, win or lose. Finally, after several years of playing on the same team, they went out on their first date. They now reside in Dewey Dormitory.
After going out to dinner one night with friends, English Teacher Peter Nilsson recalled that there was an event called the “Midsummer Night Swing” at Lincoln Center, a mere ten blocks from where they were eating. An avid swing dancer since college, he and his friends arrived at Lincoln Center and began dancing along to the swing band’s music. Mr. Nilsson spotted Ms. Nilsson and could immediately tell that she was also an experienced swing dancer. He stated, “She had good dancing shoes, and she had that ‘ask-me-to-dance’ look.”
They conversed while dancing for a full five songs, and the rest is history!