It’s weird to say many, but it’s true, it has been many. Many years ago when I was living in San Francisco, there was this Walgreens a few blocks from my apartment in the Mission that I used to go to when buying toiletries or makeup. I remember going in one day, probably to buy soap, and the lady who worked in the cosmetics department was wearing the most beautiful colored lipstick I had ever seen. I had never really worn lipstick before, but she changed my mind. She was the sweetest older lady with the most beautiful smile who walked me through the aisles to show me which lipstick she was wearing. She brought me back up to the register and asked me if I had a Walgreen’s card. I didn’t, but decided to sign up, and when I gave her my full name, Kimberly, she somehow misheard me because after that day, she always called me Kimberlin.
I didn’t realize at first that she was calling me Kimberlin. She had a thick accent, and whenever I would go back she would say, ohhh, Kimberlin, hello, Kimberlin, that’s such a pretty name, Kimber-Linnn, until I finally realized she was calling me Kimberlin, not Kimberly.
I had never heard the name Kimberlin before, but I was too embarrassed to correct her when it had been so many months, and so I went with it. Whenever I’d go buy another bottle of lipstick, or soap, or whatever it was I was buying, I’d smile and we’d chat and she’d tell me again how lovely my name was.
Fast forward months later, I had moved out of my apartment and no longer went to that same Walgreens. I never saw that lovely older lady again, but I still wore that same shade of lipstick. I was in this really strange time of my life and the furthest thing on my mind was meeting a guy, but one day, I randomly got an email from a stranger. His name? Eric Kimberlin.
I read his email (from one photographer to another) and quickly googled him and Facebook creeped him and Instagram’d him and did every amount of Internet stalking I could do before finally responding the next morning. I said a few things, and then I ended my message asking him if his name was really Eric Kimberlin, followed by,
“My full name is Kimberly, but there's a lady who works at Walgreens up here who is convinced my name is Kimberlin. She calls me that all the time and it always makes her chuckle for some reason. I didn't have the heart to correct her and now it's been too long haha. I thought she made the name up.
Let me know if you're ever in SF.”
Eric was living in Seattle, and despite him not knowing where I lived, it turned out he was flying to San Francisco the next morning for a “music related project” (oh, I love that humble guy…). A few days later, we met and, well, that is how I met my soon-to-be-husband. :)
It’s amazing how life happens. I can’t even imagine where my life would be right now had I not met Eric. I can’t imagine where my life would be right now had I not gone to that Walgreens and fell in love with that lady’s lipstick. I can’t image where my life would be right now had my parents not named me Kimberly and Eric not be a Kimberlin. Kimberlin was the only reason I replied to his email, and so fate, well, it must be.