Congratulations!

from the New York Times: Maya Nath, Benjamin Curtis:

Maya Dwaraka Nath, the daughter of Dr. Shashikala and Dr. Gopala Dwarakanath of Andover, Mass., was married on Saturday to Sgt. Benjamin A. Curtis, a son of Mary Curtis and John G. Curtis of Ann Arbor, Mich. Pandit Srinivasa Sastri performed the Hindu ceremony at Chinmaya Maruti, a Hindu religious center in Andover.

Mrs. Curtis, 28, works in Denver as an associate in the products liability department of the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer. She graduated cum laude from Columbia and received a law degree from New York University. [ . . . ]

Sergeant Curtis, 29, is in an airborne infantry unit stationed at the Army base in Fort Carson, Colo. He returned last year from a two-month deployment in Iraq and expects another deployment. He graduated from Pace University. [ . . . ]

Ms. Nath and Sergeant Curtis were introduced in Chicago in December 2006 by a colleague of Ms. Nath’s at Jenner & Block, the Chicago law firm where she was then working. Both were apprehensive about meeting, as it was a first blind date for each. Ms. Nath was also concerned because of her pro bono representation of several Guantánamo Bay detainees.

“I catch and put them away and she lets them out,” Sergeant Curtis said. “We just really hit it off, and that never became an issue. It became a joke among our friends.”

She recalled her concerns about the date: “My interaction with the Army had been adversarial — going down to Guantánamo.” Meeting Sergeant Curtis, she said, was her first personal interaction with a member of the Army. “I was surprised he wasn’t toeing the official line,” she said. “He was interested. He’s proud of the work I do. He doesn’t hide the fact from friends.”

Sergeant Curtis said he wasn’t worried about the potential awkwardness of their first meeting. “I was more interested in meeting her and hearing her perspective,” he said. “It’s most certainly the opposite stance of what I have, and we spoke about it at length on the first couple of dates. I liked that she put a lot of her work toward pro bono. It showed she was passionate. It’s part of who she is.”

He added, speaking from the perspective of a man on a date, “You don’t want to draw a line in the sand — there will never be a Day 2.”

OYE Comment:

Wow. Operation Yellow Elephant thanks Sergeant Curtis for his service to our nation and wishes the happy couple all the best.