origin story
Gather around website visitors young, middle-aged, and old! Listen to my tale of true love and burgers and a young pup named Olive Abaud-Perez.
Let us rewind the clock of time to August 2013, a more straightforward era Breaking Bad was wrapping up its final and stellar season (seriously that Ozymandias episode?), Barack Obama was only one year into his second term, the terms Donald T***** and White House still only produced laughter and not abject horror!
Now imagine two youngish people both trying to make it on the mean streets of Brooklyn. One of these people was sleeping on his mother’s couch and sharing a room with his younger brother, but that is not important to this story.
Danit Abaud, the heroine of our story, was in the midst of that most fun of projects a job hunt! In between filling out copious applications online Danit also found time to find love or at least as she put it on her OKCupid someone to “Who wants to buy me a burger?”
Now Danit, being both smart as well as stunning, developed an ingenious maneuver to gain the attention of the various male denizens of OkCupid. You see dear reader OkCupid had a method of rating multiple profiles. If a potential romantic partner gave your profile higher than four stars, then you would be notified via email that someone liked you!
One beautiful late summer day, Danit gave the profile of a RushTaco25 (Disclaimer: Mr. Perez is deeply ashamed of this profile name and asks that you understand he created it in 2011) 4 stars. When questioned as to why she gave this particular profile such a stellar rating, usually reserved for quality films such as Death to Smoochy, Danit noted that the person in the profile seemed “passionate.”
Of course, Ms. Abaud who is in addition to gorgeous and smart also relatively kind and open-minded may have mistaken “passionate” for dork, but we are happy she did. Rush Perez, that lucky little guy, received an email alert that Danisita “dug him.”
Intrigued Rush messaged Danit, she messaged him back, and then to be frank here, Mr. Perez messaged her a bit too much. Eventually, Ms. Abaud pretended she was reading a book to stave off the numerous texts.
Still, for whatever reason, she decided to go on a date with the odd man who could not take a hint about texting. They met for their first date at, appropriately enough, a hamburger joint on Franklin Avenue in Bed-Stuy.
Danit arrived looking terrific and a little nervous as she had just wrapped up an interview with Squarespace. Rush came wearing his lucky shirt and was also a bit nerve-wracked, although he had not recently had a job interview
While the date started a little awkwardly, eventually the two walked on over to a lovely bar with a gorgeous patio where they connected over margaritas (the number of which does not matter). After the margs, the two decided that maybe they should take a walk to Fort Greene Park.
Now no one would accuse Mr. Perez of being a smooth-operator, but as he walked to the park with Ms. Abaud, he hatched up a pretty good scheme. Just as they entered the park Rush led Danit to a nearby park bench and kissed her for the first time.
Well, that first kissed sealed it! They left each other that night promising to meet up soon, and so, of course, they met up two days later.
Rush and Danit spent the next few months seeing each other just about every day. They talked about everything, Danit would regale Rush with incredible stories about her extensive and fascinating family, something Rush loved as he did not have as large an extended family. Rush would talk about his dreams for his career, and in Danit found someone who always gave him the tough love he needed to keep moving forward.
As their time grew together they also faced their fair share of challenges, including the eight months Rush had to live in New Brunswick, NJ for a job, the adoption of their first pup, and the typical problems that come from loving someone and living with them.
Through it all, their commitment to each other, their love of burritos, and Pixar Movies helped them navigate the bumps along the road to where they are now. Now, of course, is engaged to be married.
Lovingly written by Rush Matthew Perez
