Catriona Campbell Duncan and Sarah Gail Palmisano believe that the appeal of the NPR video game program “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” is well been worthy of. But they wouldn’t actually understand, although their very first date, in August 2018, was a live taping of the program in Chicago’s Millennium Park.
Ms. Duncan and Ms. Palmisano, both 36, fulfilled on Tinder about a week prior to their date. Ms. Duncan, an equity expert at William Blair, asked Ms. Palmisano to satisfy her at the program for a picnic. Ms. Palmisano, a director of ecological, social and governance program management at Ulta Beauty, liked Ms. Duncan’s out-of-the-box thinking. “In the world of online dating, everybody wants to meet at a bar for a drink,” she said. “Cat wanted to be outside and do an activity.”
That neither was much of a news addict — “Wait Wait …” quizzes candidates on their understanding of present occasions — wound up not being a concern. When an abrupt rainstorm triggered picnickers to spread midway through the taping, they were deep in discussion. Ms. Duncan asked Ms. Palmisano to join her for supper at Ramen Takeya, in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. After, they went to Ms. Duncan’s neighboring home.
A very first kiss, of a type neither saw coming, occurred that night. “One of our topics of conversation all night was our dogs,” Ms. Palmisano said. She wished to satisfy Emmy, Ms. Duncan’s mini dachshund. “We joke that Sarah’s first kiss was with Emmy,” Ms. Duncan said.
Ms. Palmisano matured in Grand Rapids, Mich. In 2009, she finished with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary research studies and social science from Michigan State University. Her relocate to Chicago in 2016 was to go to graduate school at the University of Chicago, where she made a master’s degree in ecological science and policy in 2018. Ms. Duncan, who matured in Lake Forest, Ill., made an M.B.A. in 2014 from the University of Chicago. She got a bachelor’s degree in federal government and English in 2008 from Harvard.
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After the kiss with Emmy, and after stating good night to Ms. Palmisano, Ms. Duncan required to her phone. “I immediately texted everyone that I just got back from the best first date I’ve ever been on,” she said. “I knew right away, this is the person I want to be with.”
Ms. Palmisano, then residing in Chicago’s Lincoln Park community, understood, too. By the fall of 2018, they were a couple. But they weren’t frequently able to spend the night together. Ms. Palmisano’s dog, a combined breed called Stella, did not share her love for Emmy. “Let’s just say Stella’s selective about who she lets in her life,” Ms. Palmisano said. “When I rescued her, they told me she needs to be in a single animal household.”
The couple employed a mix dog fitness instructor and therapist, and at the start of the pandemic, when Ms. Palmisano moved into Ms. Duncan’s home, the dogs reached an anxious truce. Both females were working from home; the time maximized for additional strolls rather of travelling assisted.
On a getaway to Big Sur, on Dec. 28, 2021, Ms. Palmisano proposed to Ms. Duncan. Both understood Ms. Palmisano had actually wished to do the asking. But after Ms. Duncan said yes, she hatched a strategy of her own for a 2nd proposition. On Feb. 3, 2022, they left the home they now share in Chicago’s West Town to go back to Millennium Park for another taping of “Wait Wait …”
“Cat got tickets in the nosebleeds, in the same location we sat in on our first date,” Ms. Palmisano said. Again, they left midway through for supper at Ramen Takeya. This time, however, both had actually gotten the possibility to state yes to spending the rest of their lives together.
Ms. Palmisano and Ms. Duncan were wed March 24 in the Northfield, Ill., backyard of Ms. Duncan’s grandparents, Mary Ann and Paul Judy. Ms. Judy, who ended up being a Universal Life Church minister for the event, officiated. “We call her Reverend Granny now,” Ms. Duncan said. “She’s a V.I.P. in both our lives.” Plus, “they’ve been married 69 years, so she’s qualified.” Mr. Judy, the ring bearer, was the only visitor. The couple is to host a 2nd, more official event with 130 visitors on April 8 in Point Reyes, Calif., both bride-to-bes prepare to use white gowns.
Eventually, they prepare to go back to the park for a 3rd watching of “Wait Wait ….” They still haven’t listened to an episode from start to end up. But this time, they might take note. “What we have caught of the show is terrific,” Ms. Duncan said.
