how we met: rosheen’s perspective It all began on a wet rainy night in October 1997. One of my favorite childhood bands, Ratt, was playing at a local club and I just had to see them. Besides, my roommates’ friends were the opening act, so I knew it would be a fun night. I had just gotten out of a very disappointing long-term relationship and wasn’t at all interested in getting picked up or hit on. But then in between the opening act and Ratt this really cute guy beside me starts making small talk. Now, I have to be honest, at this point I'd had one too many drinks and thought "whatever, I’ll talk back and maybe the guy will go away." Well, he didn’t. I just enjoyed the show, waved good-bye to him at the end of the night, and left it at that. It’s now December and I’m getting ready for the busy season at work, when I get a phone call. It was the guy that I’d met at the Ratt show. He told me name was Cale Burr and that during the evening of the show I had told him where I worked. He said that he couldn’t stop thinking of me the last few months and would love to get together. I gave him my home phone number and hoped to hear from him again. Now it’s February. I’d never heard from Cale and figured he had gotten cold feet or something. On the 15th I was on my way to work feeling kind of bummed that I hadn’t had a valentine the day before. When I walked in, all the girls were smiling at me. They told me to go to the back room. There I found a Valentines Pez dispenser with about 10 different types of Peez candy and a business card. It was from Cale. It seems he drove all the way up to Vancouver from Bellingham the day before hoping to see me only to find out that I had the day off. Poor guy had to drive all the way back to Bellingham not knowing if I’d get his gift. I called him that night and it turns out that in December he had called my place. My roommate answered the phone and told Cale that he was interested in me and that Cale should not call again. Fortunately for me, Cale still couldn’t get me off his brain and thought he’d try one more time. We decided to meet at the Judas Priest concert the following week. Cale found me that night, as I couldn’t even remember what he looked like. I remember thinking that they guy had bad taste in clothing as he was wearing a Gilligan tshirt and ratty old Converse tennis shoes. But he seemed super sweet and he was cute, so I agreed to go on an official date on February 26th. Cale drove all the way up to Canada with a white rose bouquet, only to turn around and drive back to Bellingham for the start of our evening. We went out for a romantic dinner. I remember being too nervous to eat. We then went to see the comedian Gallagher. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. We were also covered head to toe in whatever Gallagher’s Sledge-o-matic could splat on us. After the show we went back to his house and ended up talking in front of the fireplace till 7 am. I had such an awesome time. The downside was that both of us had to work the next day. I remember thinking on the car ride home, while trying to keep my eyes open, that if I never see Cale again, at least it was the most amazing first date of my life. Lucky me - Cale called that evening! More About Us... How We Met About Sheen Sheen’s Favorites About Cale Cale’s Favorites Cale’s Family Residence how we met: cale’s perspective It was October of 1997. I was living in Bellingham, WA. A friend of mine, Jason Campbell, and I went to see one of my favorite bands as a teenager. The band was Ratt. They were playing in a club up in Burnaby, Canada on a weekend. Now Ratt wasn’t exactly in their prime anymore, but I never had the opportunity to see them play live before, so I was really looking forward to the show. So there we were hanging out at Studebakers and it wasn’t long before I noticed the prettiest girl in the place. There she was with long beautiful black hair, a provocative red velvet shirt and a form fitting leather pants. Woah. What a beautiful sight. No ring on the finger. A good sign. I kept me eye on her, looking for clues of a boyfriend. She didn’t seem to be involved with anyone on that level, so I began devising a plan to meet her. We ended up, not so coincidentally, standing next to each other during the concert. I began making casual conversation with her and we talked off and on during the show. Her name was Rosheen. Rosheen Bishop. She seemed sweet. By the time Ratt had finished playing, I managed to get from Rosheen where it was that she worked. At this point I was pretty interested and I wanted to be able to contact her again. The evening ended and I went home to Bellingham. Rosheen was such an unusual and beautiful sounding name that I decided that I would name my computer after her. I had recently purchased a new computer, and hadn’t yet given it a name. Having no idea at this point what the future would hold, I did indeed name my computer Rosheen. A couple days later I managed to find the phone number of Virgin Megastore, where Rosheen worked. I called her at work a few times over the following few weeks. I was unsuccessful in my efforts. It turns out I was being screened. The people who answered the phone assumed I was a solicitor. Finally I did reach her. We spoke long enough for her to give me her home number. I called her at home not long after. A guy, Rosheen’s roommate, answered the phone and told me that he and Sheen were a couple. That kind of threw me for a loop. I’d leave messages for Rosheen that somehow never seemed to reach her. This guy was saying he and Rosheen were an item. Rosheen, on the other hand had told me that she was not involved with anyone. At this point I decided that the situation seemed a bit messy for my taste and that it was probably best that I just not to put myself in the middle of whatever was going on. More time passed and images of this mysterious Canadian cutie kept finding their way into my thoughts. Weeks and months went by, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about this girl. Finally Valentine’s Day 1998 came and I decided that I needed to do something about it. I would give this thing another go. I figured that there would be no more appropriate time than Valentine’s Day to give a little something to someone who had spent, by now, a considerable amount of time in my thoughts. I bought a Valentine Pez dispenser, complete with an assortment of Peez candies. It seemed like the right gift. I hopped in my car and found my way to downtown Vancouver. I walked into Virgin Megastore and admittedly spent a bit of time psyching myself up. I was pretty nervous. Finally, it was time. I walked up to the counter of the coffee shop, where she worked, and asked to see her. It turned out that she was not at work that day. I asked the girl at the counter to give the gift to her along with my business card. A full day went by and I did not receive a call. This was dissappointing to say the least. I was hoping for at least a "thank you for the candy, but I’m not interested" or a "leave me alone you freak" if for no other reason, so that I knew where I stood. No call. The next evening came around and to my surprise, Rosheen called me. She thanked me for the gift and explained that she had been sick, so she hadn’t gone to work until that day. We chatted for a bit. During the course of the conversation I asked her if she would like to go see the comedian, Gallagher, with me. Gallagher was doing a show in Bellingham on the 26th of February. She said yes. I had also mentioned that I was planning to go to a Judas Priest show in a couple days in Vancouver and wondered if she was planning to go. I got the impression that she didn’t think she would be going to the show. The evening of the concert came. I went with my friend James Allin, not expecting to see Rosheen. As it turned out Rosheen made it to the show with her coworker Ashley. During the show, Rosheen and I talked and flirted with each other. Sparks were flying. It became clear that a mutal interest was developing. I remember vividly putting my arms around her waist from behind, while we were watching the show. We held hands out of the club to the car. James and I ended up giving Rosheen a ride to her home in Richmond. I gave her a hug and a peck as we went our separate ways. Wow, what a night! The big date. I spent far more energy planning for this Gallagher date with Rosheen than I had ever spent before for any date. I consulted at great length with my friend Stephanie Kramer. I wanted everything to be just right. When the evening of the date came, I drove up to Richmond to pick Rosheen up. This was an hour drive. We then drove back to Bellingham and ate dinner at a nice restaurant before the show. The Gallagher show went on for three hours. Gallagher is a very funny and brilliant man. By the end of it, my jaw hurt from laughter, my heart felt goofy and my clothes smelled of an assortment of food. This was random chunks of food that had found its way to me via Gallagher’s famous sledge-a-matic. Rosheen and I went back to my place. We cleaned up and spent the rest of the evening and early morning together, as only a couple in the earliest stages of love can do. The rest, as they say, is history.