Number 34!

Once upon a time, there were two young college students in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lori was born and raised in San Francisco. She was the youngest of three children, the only girl, born to Rudy and Virginia Rauh. She attended parochial schools all her life, including the all-girls Mercy High School in the days before Title IX.

George was born in Berkeley and raised in three nearby communities -- Oakland, Union City and Fremont. He was the middle child, the only boy, born to Catarino and Theresa Rede. He attended public schools all his life, graduating from Washington High School, the oldest and largest high school in Fremont.

Lori and George both enrolled at San Jose State University in the fall of 1970.

Lori lived in the dorms for a semester, then moved into a house with some girlfriends and spent the rest of her time in San Jose off campus. George commuted for two years -- 22 miles each way -- then moved to San Jose for the start of his junior year, where he and a friend shared an apartment.

Lori and George both majored in journalism but didn't meet until the fall of their senior year, when George was editor of the Spartan Daily, the student newspaper, and Lori was a first-semester arts reporter. George had vowed to his roommates that he would avoid any relationships his senior year so he could focus on the Daily and keeping his grades up.

So, of course, after he noticed Lori, then mustered the courage to ask her out, that plan went out the window.

Their first date: January 6, 1974, at the House of Pizza.
Courtship and engagement followed, which led to...
Their wedding date: September 6, 1975, in San Jose.

Thirty-four years ago today.

This photo was taken on the front porch of their friend's apartment in San Francisco, circa 1976.

Fashions and hairstyles change, but love remains a constant through three decades, three children and countless adventures.

If I had to do it all over again, you bet I'd propose to the same lovely woman again. Happy anniversary, mi amor.