While the age-old adage suggests that the man is the head of the family, it’s often the woman who steers its direction. This idea is perhaps best exemplified by Kentucky Senator and former presidential candidate Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley Ashby Paul. Together for over 35 years, the couple enjoys a strong marriage and has raised three sons, free from scandalous headlines or significant age differences.

Yet, their seemingly perfect union has its share of quirky tales we can’t overlook. From their serendipitous meeting involving a collapsing deck to Kelley’s firm ultimatum during their courtship, a name change later in life, and her pivotal role in Rand’s 2016 presidential campaign, earning her the media moniker of his “secret weapon,” their relationship sometimes resembles an eccentric soap opera rather than a classic love story.

Their story began in 1989 at a backyard oyster roast hosted by a mutual friend. Kelley had been stood up by her date, setting the stage for her first meeting with Rand. Initially, Kelley wasn’t impressed, thinking him to be much younger than he was. “I kind of blew him off a little bit because I thought he was about eighteen,” she shared with Vogue in 2013. Her perception changed when she discovered he was a medical school graduate interning in ophthalmology at Georgia Baptist Medical Center. The evening took an unexpected turn when part of the deck collapsed, injuring several guests. Rand seized the moment, using his medical skills to help the injured, which left a lasting impression on Kelley. And so began their unique journey together.

The story goes that Rand Paul and Kelley Ashby Paul first met at a backyard oyster roast hosted by a mutual friend in 1989, after Kelley’s date for the evening left her high and dry. Initially, however, Kelley wasn’t exactly charmed. “I kind of blew him off a little bit because I thought he was about eighteen,” she told Vogue in 2013 about their chance encounter. Imagine her surprise when she learned that he was actually a medical school graduate, completing an ophthalmology internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center. As fate would have it, Rand got the opportunity to flex his medical skills when part of the decking at the oyster roast suddenly collapsed, injuring many of the party guests. According to the Daily Mail, Rand immediately got to work, tending to the wounded and simultaneously impressing Kelley. And the rest is simply history — well, sort of.

As reported by Vogue, during the beginning stage of their courtship, Rand entertained not only Kelley but a few other women as well. As one might imagine, Kelley grew tired of the crowded dynamic and put her high-heeled foot down, issuing a no-nonsense ultimatum in the cafeteria of the hospital where Rand was working. “It was a really killer outfit,” Kelley recalled about the look she chose for the occasion.

Next order of business: changing her new beau’s name. According to Kelley, it wasn’t long before she decided that Randy, born Randal Howard Paul, should start going by Rand instead. “I remember thinking, your name just does not fit you. You don’t seem like a Randy. And I started calling him Rand and he liked it,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash during an interview in April 2015. (File that one under the untold truth of Rand Paul.)

Rand Paul and Kelley Paul’s marriage was practically thrust into the spotlight overnight following Rand’s official announcement on April 7, 2015, that he was throwing his hat into ring for the 2016 presidential election. It became immediately apparent to many that Kelly’s unofficial job as his wife was to run interference on her husband’s rather blunt personality, often tasked with smoothing things over. “Rand’s personality is kind of ‘Cut to the point,’” Kelley told the The New York Times during an interview wherein she also peddled her book “True and Constant Friends.”  She added, “I think in some ways people respond better to that, but we’ll see. We’ll see what the country wants.”

Right out of the gate, Kelley’s presidential hopeful hubby participated in two particularly contentious interviews that immediately garnered him a reputation as being sexist and chauvinistic, first for shushing CNBC anchor Kelly Evans, and then later for losing his cool with “Today” host Savannah Guthrie. Like clockwork, shortly after the disastrous interviews, Mrs. Paul began making the rounds on various news shows, all in the name of damage control. During an interview with Hoda Kotb on “Today,” Kelley was adamant those interviews did not serve as an accurate depiction of who Rand was “in terms of his relationships with women,” citing his 10-year-long partnership with a female surgeon at his medical practice. “When I read criticisms like that, I want him to obviously come off the best that he can,” she admitted.