Love Story: Harry and Bernadette Makris, Northport

Harry Makris of Northport recalls an argument that ended in a first kiss with his future wife, Bernadette.

My wife, Bernadette, and I celebrate two anniversaries each year: our wedding day, Aug. 21, 1987, and our first kiss, Nov. 14, 1980.

We met for the first time in the cafeteria at SUNY Albany's Indian Quad dorm in September 1980. I was a junior from the Bronx. She was a freshman from East Northport.

I guess at first Bernadette was not interested in me. I was a skinny guy in polyester pants driving a silver-spoke-wheeled 1978 T-Bird. She was used to dating athletes. My nickname, "Disco Harry," just about said it all.

After several weeks of trying to get a date with her - I asked her to go disco roller skating even though I couldn't skate - and Bernadette making excuses and ducking me whenever she could, we agreed to meet at a party on Nov. 14 in the dorm's lounge.

Little did I know that she was planning to fix me up with her girlfriend. When I realized what was going on, I took Bernadette aside and said, "You have to be kidding!" But I wasn't going to be rejected. So, after arguing with her for an hour, telling her how angry I was that she tried to fix me up with someone else, I just said, "Kiss me." And after one long kiss we've been kissing ever since.

Bernadette and I dated throughout the rest of college, going to Sneaky Pete's in Albany or dancing at Rafters in Saratoga. My weekends were devoted to singing in a 1960s rock and roll band, The 4 Quads. Bernadette came to every show.

She was a great student and got into SUNY Albany's business school, majoring in marketing.

I attended Albany Law School and began my practice at a firm in Albany. Bernadette worked with Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Albany.

We were married on Aug. 21, 1987, at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in the Bronx followed by a reception with 300 guests at the Marina del Rey in the Bronx.

We moved to Bethpage in 1988, and Bernadette worked for Blue Cross/Blue Shield on Long Island until 1995. She is a full-time homemaker and keeps busy with our two daughters and her book club. I'm a partner with the law firm of Milber Makris Plousadis & Seiden in Woodbury.

I will never forget those college days and that first kiss. My only wish is that my daughters marry young men who will forever have a schoolboy crush on them, as I do for my Bernadette.