Sunday, July 22, 2012

Doug and Kimmie: unscripted



Doug knew a year ago what Kimmie wanted, but he was not going to offer it until he knew that he wanted the same thing. The test of time came...and went...and when Doug knew that he was going to be in love with Kimmie forever, he knew it was time to move on the the next act in the screenplay that will be their life together.



It took 4.5 years for Doug, a Chicago native, to propose to his college sweetheart. Kimmie says that she knew "forever ago" that he was the one for her, but added that this certainty gave her the patience to wait for Doug to be as sure.

She admits that some days were harder to wait through than others.

"It probably didn't help that I was nagging him," she confessed. "When did the really bad nagging start?"

"A year ago?" Doug offered.


The attraction started about five years ago...for Doug, anyway. The two met through mutual friends during their freshman year at Western Illinois University; Kimmie was seeing someone else at that time, and Doug was "just doing my own thing."

Doug was attracted to Kimmie's intelligence (she was already on her way to becoming the teacher she is now) and her laid-back attitude, but there were two problems: The other guy, and the fact that Kimmie was seriously not into Doug at all.

"She thought I was annoying," he said.

"Very much so," she added.

They have staring contests — and Kimmie knows she is doomed to lose.
Doug can perform bizarre feats of physical prowess with his eyeballs.

But during their sophomore year, they both became resident assistants in dormitories that shared a cafeteria (Doug at Henninger, Kimmie at Bayliss). Then Kimmie dumped the other guy.

"That's when I made my move," the patient young man said.

Kimmie needed time to get acclimated to Doug's approach.

"She kind of has to know you before she'll start acting stupid," is the way Doug put it.

"I felt like he would never shut up," is Kimmie's version. "Now, it works perfectly for us."

Doug also attempts feats of physical prowess on fire hydrants and bicycle racks.
His skills have a diminished impact on Kimmie here.

Kimmie pauses for a moment, and considers: What was it about Doug that won her over?

The pause becomes a long look.

"I don't know," and a giggle, is the answer.

Maybe they saw in each other someone else who wanted to make the world a better place (Doug studied law enforcement and criminal justice), though they took different approaches to that common goal. Or maybe it was something else that neither studied, though both loved: cinema.

The two started dating...and that was where the plot lost its pace for a while.

"I had a couple of requirements," Doug said, the first being that both had to graduate college, a criterion that was years away from fulfillment when they became a couple. "I didn't want to rush."


Kimmie played her role through more scenes that she expected — but early this summer, her boyfriend finally went off-script. In the moment of improvisation she had waited for, Doug asked her to share the screen with him for life.

Now in production, The Doug and Kimmie Movie will be released on July 13 at an as-yet-undetermined location in McHenry, where her family hails from.

"The real question is: 'What's our rating?'" Doug asked.

Look for yourself, but this pair is likely to get stuck with PG-13.