Love Story: Kathy and Terry McCormick, Lindenhurst

Kathy McCormick of Lindenhurst recalls the day she first set eyes on future husband, Terry.

"Love at first sight" always seemed corny to me, a catchall phrase for romantics to dramatically tell about how they fell in love. But after it happened to me almost 30 years ago, I, too, succumbed to being one of those romantics.

The date was Aug. 26, 1985. I was waiting underground in hot, stuffy, overcrowded Penn Station for the 5:35 p.m. train to Massapequa. It was the end of my first day at Calvary Tours travel agency. I was 18, full of energy and thrilled to be working in Manhattan.

Glancing around at the track information monitors, I spotted "him," casually leaning against a pole reading the newspaper. As I was ogling him from afar, I was immediately drawn to his boyish good looks; he had brown curly hair, a Romanesque nose, pert pink lips and a furrow between his eyebrows that accentuated his overall appearance of being successful. Then the announcement sounded for my train and he vanished.

To my dismay, I did not see him again until two days later. Thankfully, we ended up waiting at the same track entrance. I asked him if he was taking the 5:35 train and he said yes. My heart was thumping with excitement. Could this be fate? I had to find out. We continued talking as we walked to the platform and onto the train. Terry, 25, worked at Irving Trust Company on Wall Street, his first job. He lived in Brentwood but took the train out of the Babylon station. We made plans to go out and I gave him my phone number before I disembarked at Massapequa.

That Friday, he met me in the lobby of my building in midtown and we took a subway down to South Street Seaport. We spent the evening with some of his friends, and hundreds of other people, outside on the cobblestone streets. It was so much fun! We continued to date and commute together.

On Aug. 26, 1989, exactly four years after I first saw Terry in Penn Station, we were married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park. We honeymooned at Disney World, followed by a cruise to the Bahamas.

We have been blessed with much happiness dotted with drops of sadness along the way. We have three wonderful children. Terry now works at Bloomberg in Manhattan, implementing computer software systems for investment firms. After being a stay-at-home mom, I went back to college in 2002 and received a bachelor's degree in education from St. Joseph's College and a master's in literacy from Long Island University. I am an elementary school special-education support teacher with the Lindenhurst school district. I also serve as a Eucharistic minister at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Lindenhurst.

Terry and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary recently with a trip to London and another to Savannah, Georgia. We still have a special place in our hearts for the Long Island Rail Road.