Chicago. Douglas Emhoff, husband of Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Kamala Harris, shared his love story and recalled how they fell in love on a ‘blind date’ in 2013 and left a strange ‘voice message’ for Kamala, which she reads on every anniversary of their marriage. Emhoff shared this anecdote on the stage at the Democratic Party’s national convention here on Tuesday night to garner support for Harris. He said that he loves the profession of advocacy. He became the father of son Cole and daughter Ella, got divorced from (ex-wife) and then ‘something unexpected happened’ — went on a ‘blind date’ with Harris.
“In 2013, I went to a controversial meeting with a client. We worked through the issue and at the end of the meeting, the delighted client offered me a blind date — and that’s how I got Kamala Harris’s phone number,” Emhoff said. Emhoff, 59, said he left a long and awkward first voicemail, which Harris, 59, now reads to him every year on their wedding anniversary. “For generations, people have debated when to call the person you’re meeting with, and no one has ever suggested 8:30 a.m. before. And yet, I called at that time. I got Kamala’s voicemail. I started rambling,” he said.
He said, “I remember trying to clarify what I had said in a rush. After a long time, I hung up. But, Kamala saved that voicemail, and she plays it to me every anniversary. That message was not the only unusual thing that day.” Emhoff said, “Kamala, who was usually hard at work in the office, coincidentally was waiting for a contractor to do some work in the kitchen in her apartment. I was eating at my desk, which was not unusual for a busy lawyer like me, who is used to a good ‘business lunch’.” He said, “Then she called me back. We talked for an hour. We laughed. You know that laugh. I love that laugh. Maybe it was our first date, or maybe it was a Saturday, when I put her in the car and said, “Fasten your seat belt because I’m not really a good driver.”
He described his wife as a “warrior” and a loving parent to their children. Emhoff, a Los Angeles lawyer, took a leave from his firm when Harris became vice president. Emhoff has two children from his first marriage. He said Harris has made her family a priority, no matter how busy her job is. Harris does not have biological children. Emhoff said, “Those of you who are from a family with stepchildren know that things can get a little complicated. But as soon as he started calling her (Harris) ‘Momala,’ I knew everything was going to be fine.
