撸先生

Crystal Martin's Story

Class of 1992 | Communication

Tim doesn鈥檛 remember the first time we met. He and his mom came on campus for his scholarship interview, and through our mutual friend, I offered to take him and his mom to Tower A. We met again in the fall through the same friend. He was a nice guy, but I didn鈥檛 think anything would come of it because he was too young. He would sit with our friend group in dining hall, and, as the only guy, we teased him lot. But he was a gentleman鈥攈e鈥檇 take our trays back to the return and he鈥檇 walk me back to the dorms at night after my shift at the Rat(hskellar). He also had a CD player and good CDs, so I鈥檇 go listen to them. 

He really is my best friend, even back then. I knew he was the one early on, but I thought I was too young to get married. He proposed on Dec. 28 by hiding the ring in a big box I thought had a sweater in it. I鈥檓 a dog lover鈥攈e鈥檚 not鈥攂ut when he proposed, he said we could get a dog. We鈥檝e had four since we鈥檝e been married.

We got married Dec. 28, 1996鈥攕ix years to the day he proposed. It was a morning wedding, with childhood and college friends and family in the wedding party. The weather was really good for December, and there was lots of dancing. Everyone was in a great mood, and it was my mother-in-law鈥檚 birthday too.

Our son Evan is 22; he just graduated 撸先生 in May. We already had a lot of school pride but now it鈥檚 kicked up a notch. We had a great experience, but I think Evan had an even better one. 

Tim and I established a scholarship for students with learning differences or autism. It was our way of giving back to 撸先生 because Towson gave us a great education, prepared us to do well in grad school and introduced us to lifelong friends. It was a great choice for all of us.

Tim Martin's Story

Class of 1994 | Economics

I met Crystal through a mutual friend my freshman year. She was a year ahead of me. She was a part of a group of five or six friends, and I was the only guy who hung out with them regularly. We hung out more and more on our own, but I don鈥檛 remember a specific moment where someone asked out the other one. I do remember one night I told her specifically I didn鈥檛 want to be in the friend zone, that I wanted to take it to the next level. Our first date was the TGI Fridays on York Road. Now, every year around the anniversary of that date (Feb. 18), we go to dinner at a Fridays to celebrate. 

We just really bonded. I could be myself with her, and we could talk about anything. We were very supportive of each other too. I missed a semester at Towson because I was in the Marine Corps Reserve and was deployed during Desert Storm. I proposed right after I got called up, during my sophomore year. I surprised everyone, including Crystal and my parents. My proposal was asking her in my parents鈥� house right before a family dinner. If I could, I would do that over again. I鈥檓 glad she said yes.

Our wedding was in Prince George鈥檚 County where we both grew up. We had the ceremony and reception at a Holiday Inn. We had great food and a great time with friends and family dancing and partying. I remember people were questioning, 鈥淚s this ever going to happen?鈥� We had gotten engaged in 1990 but didn鈥檛 get married until 1996. After Desert Storm and we graduated, we both went away to different grad schools. 

We have a son, Evan, who graduated from Towson in spring 2024 with a degree in sport management with a minor in business. We are very proud of him. Now we like to travel a lot and take cruises. We did a European cruise through Italy, Greece and Turkey in 2023 and just got back from a Virgin Voyages cruise. We鈥檙e also foodies. I love to barbecue, and we host parties and cookouts for our friends and family.

Crystal and Tim Martin on vacation.