{"id":140708,"date":"2022-07-13T10:40:29","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T16:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=140708"},"modified":"2022-07-14T13:25:13","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T19:25:13","slug":"uccs-alumni-couple-celebrates-37-years-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=140708","title":{"rendered":"UCCS alumni couple celebrates 37 years together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ken and Karen Sullivan stand outside Main Hall, where they first met.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It all started in January of 1982, in an Intro to Literature class in Main Hall. That\u2019s when Ken, then majoring in engineering, and Karen, who was a biochemistry major, met for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took until the very last day of the semester for Ken to make a move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I worked at the UCCS bookstore,\u201d Karen explained, \u201cand on the last day of the semester, Ken kept coming in and buying Three Musketeers bars. He\u2019d come in, buy one, we\u2019d chat for a minute, then he\u2019d go…and then come back and buy another one. Eventually I went, \u2018Okay, I know what\u2019s going on here.\u2019 He was getting up the nerve to ask me out because he knew if he didn\u2019t ask me out then, it would be summer and that would be that. He finally asked me out after three hours and I don\u2019t even know how many candy bars.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Ken and Karen recreate their first date at Fargo’s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Their first date was at Fargo\u2019s pizza, then they caught a midnight movie. Three years later, they were married, and on July 13, they celebrated 37 years together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were waiting for me to graduate from college, but I changed majors, so I took an extra semester and graduated in December instead of May,\u201d Ken explained. Karen left UCCS before graduation to take on a full-time job, but she still helped Ken with his education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe used to take pity on me and type my papers for me because I couldn\u2019t type,\u201d he laughed. \u201cAnd there were a couple of late-night study sessions at the Village Inn.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d stay there until the wee hours of the morning,\u201d Karen added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple made quite a few memories while they were in school \u2013 one unforgettable day, Ken even managed to break Karen\u2019s toe.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Ken and Karen, recreating the moment where he broke her toe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cBack then, the parking places in front of the science building were given out by lottery, so we were racing down the hill to see if I\u2019d won the lottery,\u201d Karen explained. \u201cWe were each trying to be the first person to get to the list that was posted just inside the door.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got there first, and opened the door, but her foot got in the way,\u201d Ken said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I did win the lottery!\u201d Karen laughed. \u201cI still can\u2019t bend that toe all the way, though.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple also spent a semester working together. Karen got Ken a job at the UCCS bookstore, where he worked until he graduated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his graduation with a degree in applied math, the couple stayed in the Springs for about a year, hoping to find Ken a job in the aeronautical field, but when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred in January of 1986, many space programs got put on hold.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken went to a job fair and was approached by the FBI. He put in an application and has been with the organization ever since \u2013 a career spanning over 35 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years since their time at UCCS, Ken and Karen have had six children, ranging in age from 35 to 14. A few years ago, they started fostering children and adopted a sibling group of three.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all because of UCCS,\u201d Ken said. \u201cWouldn\u2019t have happened without the university.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, I think about that some days,\u201d Karen said. \u201cThose little decisions. If we had gone somewhere else, this wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven just that I was an engineering major, and they don\u2019t take a lot of English classes,\u201d Ken added. \u201cI only had to take one, and I just happened to pick that one because it fit in my schedule.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may have been fate that brought them together, but Ken and Karen have made sure to keep their relationship a priority the past 37 years. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Ken and Karen Sullivan’s wedding photo. The couple celebrates 37 years on July 13, 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always gone away every year for our anniversary,\u201d Karen said. \u201cEven if it\u2019s just an overnight thing, we\u2019ve done that pretty consistently, and we have a weekly date night. Back in our younger days, it might have just been a cup of coffee at McDonald\u2019s with a newborn. But we always have that date night, and it\u2019s so important because as life goes on, especially when you have kids, it can get busy, but you\u2019ve got to remember that you begin and end as a couple. You\u2019ve got to take care of that relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations on 37 years, Ken and Karen!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It all started in January of 1982, in an Intro to Literature class in Main Hall. That\u2019s when Ken, then majoring in engineering, and Karen, who was a biochemistry major, met for the first time. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":140714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,427],"tags":[441,332],"class_list":["post-140708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-alumni-stories","tag-class-notes","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/KenKAenUCCS22MainHall.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-ABu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140708"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140730,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140708\/revisions\/140730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}