David Friedland is running the Chicago Half Marathon Sept. 7, in memory of an aunt who passed away from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, "and knowing so many people who have been impacted by blood cancers," he said.
Friedland will be proud in purple on race day, the official jersey color for his endurance-training team, Team In Training, which supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ( LLS ). He is running 13.1 miles from the event's starting line at Jackson Park.
He has fund raised about $1,200 this summer for LLS.
This is Friedland's third year as an endurance-sport runner and his goal remains pretty simple: "to finish," he said.
And then, no doubt it'll be a post-run craft beer, or two.
"I'm good [running] 13.1 miles; I don't have any aspirations to run [a full marathon of] 26.2 [miles]," he said.
Friedland and Jack Quinones met Aug. 25, 1995, at 5 a.m., inside the Customs and Immigration Hall at Miami International Airport. Friedland was working for an exchange student organization and Quinones was working as a ticket agent at an airline. "We chatted about travel, living abroad and foreign languages. Realizing that we had so much in common, I decided to give him my number. Plus it was my last day on the job, so if I hadn't given him my number then, I wouldn't have had the chance," Friedland said.
Quinones called and their first date was Sept. 13, 1995.
"The most important things that binds us are our shared interests," Friedland said. "We are both very interested in current events, international affairs, foreign and domestic travel, food, and languages, so we are never at a loss for things to talk about. We're also both very independent and easy-going and get along remarkably well."
They got married this past May 22.
"We have always said that we'd get married only when we lived in a state in which it was legal," Friedland said. "When it became legal in Illinois, we picked a date that worked for us. So, on May 21, we went to the Cook County Clerk's office in the Loop to get the license. We waited the minimum one day before having the marriage officiated. Then, on May 22, we went to Cook County Marriage Court, also in the Loop and got married. We followed that with brunch at the Atwood CafÃ�© with our best friend and that was that. Simple. No fuss. Just the way we wanted it."
That night, Quinones flew to Brazil for a business trip.
"People joked that he went on our honeymoon without [me]," Friedland said, laughing. "We still haven't had an official honeymoon. We will, soon—probably to the Canary Islands."
During his flying career, Friedland once met Colin Powell, and he said one of the best perks of the job is "free travel, and also interacting with different people every day."
"Every day brings a different group of customers and fellow employees," he said. "Being highly social, I enjoy talking and interacting with people during the bulk of my day."
The worst part of his job is the long hours and changing time zones, he said.
THE STATS
Age: 40
Neighborhood: Uptown
Relationship status: Married to Jack Quinones, 49, operations planning manager
Job title: Flight attendant
Hobbies: Cooking and eating, travel, movies, museums, exploring Chicago
Favorite TV show: Mad Men
Favorite movie: Maurice
Four people ( living or dead ) you'd like to have dinner with: Armistead Maupin, Diane Rehm, Wanda Sykes and Betty White
Favorite pizza topping: Mushrooms
Preferred drink at a bar: Craft beer
Little-known fact: "I speak Portuguese."
