They were so close, and yet, so far away.
In 1999, both Heather (Kaufman) Rasowsky, GWSPH BS ’06, and Avi Rasowsky, CCAS BA ’05—him, a New York native, and her, a Texas girl—travelled to Mexico City to represent the United States in the Pan American Maccabi Games. Avi was a member the U.S. baseball team, and Heather competed as a gymnast.
“We originally crossed paths in 1999 when we were both competing in Mexico City,” says Heather. “Our teams shared a bus as we toured the city together and watched each other’s teams compete, but we didn’t know each other at the time.”
Maybe it was fate, or just their athletic talents, that brought Heather and Avi together again at GW just a few years later: Avi came to GW to play baseball in 2001, and Heather joined the Gymnastics team a year later. It wasn’t long before their paths crossed for a second time.
“In 2002, the first week of my freshman year, his sophomore year, the Gymnastics and Baseball teams were hanging out together,” Heather recalls. “Avi was wearing a shirt from the ’99 Games, which I recognized, and I told him I had competed in the same event.”
Not long after, Avi would end up walking the halls of Madison Hall looking for a “Freshman Welcome” name tag on a door with the names of Heather and her roommate posted. He found their door and left his number on their dry erase message board. “These were before the days of Facebook, Instagram, and any other popular social media site,” Heather points out.
Heather consulted an older teammate who confirmed that Avi, indeed, was a really nice guy, so she gave him a call. Soon after, the young couple took a walk down to the monuments and the rest, as they say, is history.
The couple, who currently resides in Houston, Texas, says they still hold many fond memories of their time at GW together: walking around campus, the waterfront and monuments, and to Georgetown where the restaurant Filomena was their favorite spot for date nights and special occasions. But the memory that might burn brightest is of their first meeting.
“Thirteen years and three kids—Adley (almost 4), Cyrus (2), and Shayla (born in December)—later, we remember meeting at GW like it was yesterday!” Heather says.
—W. Gray Turner
