Andrew Brown - Colors of Love

 

So, I was a pretty prolific high school student. Won many awards, scholarships for university. There was one event though that was like the Oscars, where you didn't actually know who was the winner. So, everyone was blinded to the results. Basically, I'm sitting in the front row, and there's an award that I think I'm going to win. I hear my name, “Andrew,” and I start to button up my suit jacket and get ready to accept my award. And the announcer finishes the sentence, “Andrea Black.” I'm furious, because this woman has the feminized version of my name, Andrew. [audience laughter] And she also has a color for the last name, Black. My last name is Brown. [audience laughter] So, I leave this event furious. 

 

I'm in the back of the car. My mom's like, “Why are you so angry?” I'm like, “I just lost.” For the next few months, if I received a scholarship letter and I didn't win, I thought to myself, Andrea Black probably won it. [audience laughter] And for years, this was in the back of my mind. Years in the back of my mind. And so, I'm in my first year of medical school, and a friend of mine is like, “You know what? You should try this website out. It's called POF.” Plenty of Fish. I don't know if you guys have heard of it. And so, I'm like, “Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll try it out.” And the first person I messaged, really cool person, aligns very much with my goals. She likes philosophy. She seems very educated. I think it's a good match. 

 

We start to have a bit of a conversation. We sent emails over the winter break, and she asks me, “Tell me a bit about yourself.” And I say, “You know, I'm from this town, Mississauga. I have a key to the city.” [audience laughter] And she's like, “Key to the city? I got to google this.” So, she googles me and she sees my name, Andrew Brown, and she says, “Ha-ha-ha. Look how funny that is. My name's Andrea Black. Your name's Andrew Brown. [audience laughter] Ha-ha-ha. Isn't that funny?” And I'm like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, capital letters. IS THIS THE ANDREA BLACK?” Like, angry capital letters. 

 

I was like, “Were you at this event in 2003? Were you at this event in-- Were you at this?” [audience laughter] And she's like, “Yeah, that was me.” And so, for years, I carried this hate in my heart for this Andrea Black. We had an opportunity to meet, we had dinner and it was fantastic. I was able to take a step back and it was years ago. I thought I'd give her a chance. She was a great person. And at our wedding– [audience cheers and applause] 

 

Her father was actually able to find videotape from 2003, [audience laughter] where Andrea's accepting her award, she's going up the stage and she's getting her award, shaking hands. And then, Andrew Brown, he's coming up to the stage and [scoffs] shuts off the camera. [audience laughter] Didn't even take a photo of me. Like, it was crazy. This is at our wedding. And people are like, “Ha-ha-ha. It's so funny.” It brought back all those feelings of [audience laughter] resentment and fear and hatred. But I can say, I do love my wife very much. We're doing fine. We've have gotten over that hurdle. [audience laughter] Sometimes it's a problem, but for the most part, I think we're doing all right. Thanks so much, guys.