The Hudson Wedding Experience

After many (many!) years of waiting, our paths finally crossed on May 29th, 2023 – Memorial Day. This was a special day in our lives and we feel blessed to be getting married exactly two years later.

Read on to learn more about our memories of that day…

His Version

Over the past few years, maybe longer I guess… I’ve made it a habit to acknowledge exceptional days or even strings of days as “peak day” or what I especially like “peak week,” cheered with all the enthusiasm and emphasis one might hear at a sporting event. This day, this Memorial Day, was a “peak day.” And I’m elated to say, humbled to say, one of the best days of my life, if not the best because I met my love, my future wife, Christina Ruth.

I ran that morning. It was the Chattanooga Chase. The coordinator, Alan, yelled my name for some reason right at the starting bell to a crowd of 200+ runners pumping with adrenaline. I felt special! Whatever, I ran freak’n incredible – like the wind. I put up my best time ever. Here’s a photo finish:

Then I remember feeling a bit surrendered. I had no plans after the race. My buddy Phil – barely seen behind me to my right because he let me beat him that year knowing I needed the self-confidence boost – Phil, suggested I join him over at our mutual friends home, Jim. Just a family grill for Memorial Day. Sweet! I’m there!

And I’ll never forget walking in the house and seeing Tina for the first time. I was struck by her beauty and presence… and of course Phil was cutting up with her. The first thought I almost blurted out was, “Wow! You look beautiful!” In the milli-second pause it takes someone not to be totally desperate, I managed to get out a, “Hello! and a, “You look really nice today.” I barely survived. Also, in that so brief of a moment I was calculating the very real probability that her husband, “Where is her husband!?” – was about to come in and ask me to leave.

But, as fate would have it, Tina was beautiful and single or… at least without an other human partner because Gemma is clearly her first true love.

What a profoundly peak day. And I’m so astonished that I get to have so, so many more days with the love of my life, Christina Ruth Berens.

Her Version

In May of 2023, I sold my home in Cramerton, NC, and loaded up my belongings in a Penske truck. I drove that big yellow truck across state lines and into my next chapter – Chattanooga, TN. Chattanooga greeted me with a new home, a new city and a lot of unease as I embarked on acclimating to new everything.

A week after moving in to my home, my neighbors from across the street invited me over for a Memorial Day cookout. They said it would be small, just a few other neighbors and friends and I needed to bring a dish to pass. Easy, I was grateful for the break from unpacking and the opportunity to make my first dish in my kitchen – a kale salad, of course!

As is typical for me, I was one of the first ones to arrive. I was taking in my surroundings, talking with a friend of my neighbor’s, and I heard a loud voice greet their dog near the entrance. Interesting, I thought. A few minutes later, the handsome human that went with that loud voice bounced up to me, shook my hand and said, “Hello! You look really nice today.”

*cue blushing*

Adam and I continued to talk on and off throughout dinner. I was curious about him. I remember there was an ease to our conversation from the start and he laughed at all my puns and jokes.

When it was time to part ways, Adam said, “I’d like to take your number.” I responded the only way I could. By saying, “where would you like to take it?”

I set my wittiness aside and gave him my number. He said he would text me the following day. But it was just a few hours later when I received my very first text from Adam Patrick Hudson. We’ve been talking ever since and I cannot wait to see where this lifelong conversation takes us.