My Love Story

Michelle and met on October 15, 2010 in a serendipitous way. We were both part of a charity in Raleigh, NC and one night at a dinner struck up a conversation about many things - including our love of travel.

I was talking about my upcoming Rollerblades and Red Bull trip to South Africa and she had just returned from there days prior. We ended up staying up all night talking about everything!

I was heading on a work cruise in the next few days, but when I returned we really started to click.

Instead of words - let me tell the story in pictures and video. 

Shortly after we started dating I through Michelle a huge curveball that I was moving to New York to pursue a new business. I ended up convincing (tricking) her to move with me to Albany, New York.  :-) 

A year later, she took me skydiving in Long Island for my 40th birthday and I surprised her back with a proposal at 10,000 feet!  Skip ahead to 1:22 if you want to see it:

 

And, we were officially engaged:

The wedding plans were set into motion and on July 4th, 2013 we were married in New Rochelle, NY with family, friends and furkids:

After the wedding, we set off on a honeymoon of a lifetime - visiting Casablanca Morocco, Cairo and Luxor Egypt, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mumbai and Delhi India. It was a whirlwind, but we saw 5 world wonders - the Sahara, the Nile, the pyramids, Mount Everest and the Taj Mahal:

This is where the story of Brooklyn began. And a few months later, we were ready to share with the world:




In November, we learned the gender of Brooklyn at the same time all of you did - on a live action reveal video!

Michelle was rocking the bump over the winter months with grace and smiles  :-D

And then the big moment!  

We went to a boat show 60 miles away on March 29, 2014, had our final doctor's appointment on Monday, March 31st, then off to a late IMAX movie (Noah) that night.

Michelle started going into labor during the movie and we came home (after finishing the movie of course), got packed up and headed over to Albany Medical Center by 4am on April 1st (4114)

After taking a dip in the whirlpool around 5:30am, Michelle went into active labor and it was game on!  12 hours later, Brooklyn made her way into the world!

After Daddy cut the cord, she was weighed in and spent some wonderful time on Mommy.

What a wonderful feeling! I will let Brooklyn get the last word:

Michelle and I are truly blessed.

Our little angel, Brooklyn Marie McBain, made her way into the world on April 1, 2014 at 5:35pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She was born at Albany Medical Center in New York.

All of us are in so much love with Brooklyn - she is so beautiful.

Our fourth little angel, Cali Rose McBain, made her way into the world about 20 months later on December 29, 2015 at 4:57pm. She weighed 8 pounds and 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. She was born at Albany Medical Center in New York.

All of us were in so much love with Cali - she is so beautiful.

And now our family was complete with our four beautiful daughters, Danica, Mila, Brooklyn and Cali. Check out these baby pictures:

Through work changes, moving to Florida, traveling the world, Danica entering Baylor for Law School, Mila finishing her undergrad at York University in Toronto, Brooklyn graduating Kindergarten, Cali entering VPK, we continue the story with as much love as we have built over this incredible decade-long journey.

The best is yet to come!

Other parts of my life story are here - 

My Life Story - Have you ever thought about the impact of big decisions that you made in your life? How about the small ones or the ones made for you? How would have your life turned out if things went the other way?

My Housing Story - After 13 moves and stops in three Canadian Provinces and three U.S. States, here is my journey in pictures from the Northwest to the Southeast of North America.

My Travel Story - After visiting 85 countries (many with kids in tow), we are preparing for a trip to our 7th continent (Antarctica) in January 2021 assuming restrictions from COVID-19 lift.

My Nautical Story - I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin.

My Crazy MBA Story - In the summer of 2017, while climbing Machu Picchu, Peru as part of my wife Michelle’s International MBA from Manhattan College, I thought – why not me?

My Hockey Story - As long as I can remember, I have been playing hockey. Over four decades and thousands of games later, I still lace them up a couple times a week, year-round.

My Car Story - I have the dubious honor of getting speeding tickets on all 6 driveable continents - lucky that there are no cars in Antarctica! Did I ever tell you the time I passed the Polizia in Italy with my mom?

My Christmas Story - Whether traveling to see family, or going to Disney or Hawaii, or simply staying home - the season is packed with memories of family and friends.

My Music Story - My favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music. Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

My Movie Story - Oddly enough, I think Pretty Woman made me very interested in business. I named my cat Austin Powers - oh, and yes, "Danger" is his middle name. Our current dog is named August Rush (Auggie Doggy). Movies such as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Forrest Gump, & National Lampoon's Vacation have become soundtracks to my life.

These are all my personal stories. My business stories wrap around channels, partnerships, alliances, and ecosystems and can be found here. 

Also business related, on this platform I named the top 100 most visible channel influencers and top 100 global women in technology groups that continue to get thousands of visitors per month.

Thanks for taking a walk with me through memory lane!