The Toronto Star Sunday, December 6, 1998.

HOW WE MET

DEAN: We got together in November, 1992, but we had met five years prior to that. We used to be at the same agency, and I saw her head shot one day and I told my agent "you have to introduce me to this woman." He said he'd do his best. He did introduce me one day in his office. I fell in love, but she couldn't care less.

MARY JO: I don't even remember meeting him. No offence.

DEAN: I even remember what she was wearing - a blue-and-white striped Gap shirt and faded jeans. Over the course of five years, up until the November of '92, I'd see her at parties but wouldn't talk to her because I thought she wasn't interested. Then I was doing security for the AIDS ball and Mary Jo's brother was supposed to meet her and give her a ticket. But he got really, really drunk and forgot all about her.

MARY JO: I was going solo, I couldn't get a date for it.

DEAN: I saw this as my opportunity to get her in for nothing and meet her. But one of my friends spotted her, thought she was good looking and let her in.
My big thing was letting her in for free, and I'd blown it. Later on, I went upstairs to get drinks for the guys. I saw her with a scowl on her face, she was heading for the door. I thought, "This is it. I have to say something."
So I stopped her and said "I know you." And she said "I know you, too. How do you know me?" And I said "We used to be at the same agency together. I met you five years ago and I've been in love with you ever since."
I put it on the line. We talked for hours and hours after that. But then I dropped the ball a bit.

MARY JO: I was going to leave the party because I was on my own and there were no cute guys, everybody was with somebody, and my brother was drunk and wouldn't give me my beer tickets.
I decided I wasn't going to come to these things anymore to meet people, it was hopeless. He did say that he'd been in love with me for five years and I thought, "Well he's cute."
The reason I said I knew him was I'd seen him in a commercial - it was for Bell - and I thought "That's the type of man I'd like to marry."
So we went and we started talking for about an hour, and I thought he was really cute and really nice, maybe we would just have sex or something. I didn't know him, I thought he was a mover and shaker because he had this tight T-shirt on and tight pants.
Then I said to him, "What time do you get off work? Maybe we can go for a drink or something." He told me two o'clock, so I said I'd wait around. Then he said, "No, it might be three or four. I don't know when I'm going to get off." I thought he was blowing me off. Then we stopped chatting and he went downstairs because he had, like, three ex-girlfriends there or something.

DEAN: There were only two.

MARY JO: There were only two. I left a few minutes later, and I went up to him and said, "It was really nice talking to you, I had a great time." He said, "Okay, see you."

DEAN: I said, "It was very nice meeting you." I just thought she was being nice. Anyway, the one ex-girlfriend who was there, she was standing next to me when Mary Jo came up to me. After Mary Jo left, the ex-girlfriend slapped me on the back of the head.
"You're stupid, she totally likes you," she said. "Go and give her your number." I thought that would be totally cheesy to do, run after her and give her my number after that, but I remembered from our conversation where she worked, so I sent her a big thing of flowers and asked her out in the card.

MARY JO: The funny thing is that I'd told my brother that Dean was there but didn't seem interested. I got the flowers at work and said, "That's not funny." I thought my brother had sent them. So it took me a while to call Dean.
The card said, "I really enjoyed talking to you the other night, maybe we can get together sometime" and had his phone number. I saved it. I've still got it.
Then we went out for lunch, played pool and talked. Then he asked me out for the next day. Every day we've been together since.

DEAN: We spent every day for nine months together, and then we got married.

MARY JO: It was kind of out of nowhere, that's for sure.

DEAN: That's the thing, when you least expect it, that's when it happens. When you're looking for the right person, it never happens.

MARY JO: When we talked that first night, I thought he was very mature. He's quite together and quite mature, and quite cute. That's unusual.

DEAN: It was amazing, she was wearing just a simple black dress with a low neckline. When she tans, she gets freckles on her chest. I love that.

MARY JO: I think I did look good that night.

DEAN: I thought she was very mature, very articulate, very funny.

MARY JO: I was extremely flattered that he'd come up to me. But I thought he was a little boy-toy or something, because he was so cute. I didn't know there was substance behind it.

DEAN: How long did it take before we kissed? That's a funny story.

MARY JO: He kept taking me out for dinner, and we'd go for drives and look at the sunset and sit for five hours. And nothing. So one of those nights after we got home - it was about four or five in the morning - and still he hadn't done anything.
I said "you can kiss me goodnight if you want." He said, "You know, I don't mean to upset you but I'm not really physically attracted to you. I think you're nice, but I don't think of you in that way." I was so upset. Then he went, "Just kidding," and finally laid one on me.
I sort of knew after two or three dates that this was the man I was going to marry, but boy, he was going to be a lot of work. I love his sense of humour, his priorities - he's very grounded and very generous, reliable. He's very strong and dependable. He's smart. He's nuts, too, I like that.
We have such a great life together - we've worked hard for it, though. He calls me every day to tell me he loves me.

DEAN: She has this incredible sense of humour. Not only is she beautiful, smart, funny, she's also wacky - I love that wackiness. We complement each other perfectly.

MARY JO: Our marriage is very strong. A lot of people have split up since we've been together. Being in the same business, we understand each other, the schedules, the pressures. I think we're both commited to our relationship. I think it's respect that makes it work.
I always feel bad if I yell at him because I don't want to disrespect him.
It's trust, too, and I totally trust him. And we both just really like each other.