The rose
Last Summer I had an experience, and I can't believe I didn't put it in here! Well, better late than never.
As I passed by the employee break room at the Fun Center where I work I caught a glimpse of a very attractive young lady that was just receiving her new work shirts. She was our most recent hire, and this was my first time ever seeing her. But for some reason, that first time I looked at her, the thought came into my mind "You're going to marry this girl."
Having worked many jobs around many datable people I've learned the difficult lesson that it is a bad thing to date the people you work with, and I had come to the conclusion that I would just avoid it altogether. This was a different story, though. I was going to marry this girl! So I asked her out.
It turns out that Jill was very popular among the young and single at the Fun Center. Realizing this I could see that if I was going to have a chance at marrying her I would need to make a strong first impression. Something that would set me apart from all the rest. Something different. With this thought in mind I scheduled a date with her on the day before her birthday and made quite a plan!
I picked her up in the afternoon. Jill was a very active girl, so we went on a hike to one of my favorite waterfalls. We went boulder jumping and then found a very nice quiet place to sit down, eat some snacks and chat on a large flat boulder that was surrounded by a beautiful, green, round wall of trees. I then told her that I wanted to take her to eat somewhere special for her birthday and that she would probably want to dress nice for the occasion. With that thought in mind I dropped her off at home so that she could change.
When I picked Jill up for dinner she was beautiful! Her rugged jeans and tight t-shirt has transformed into a gorgeous black dinner gown. Her dusty sweater had changed into a sparkling fitted deep maroon top. Her muddy tennis shoes had been replaced with a pair of simple open toed high heels, and her long brown hair was pulled back off of her tanned olive face and placed, almost in a formal fashion, in curls on the crown of her head. The only thing that wasn't different was the smiling glow of her beautiful blue eyes. I had been slightly afraid that I would dress a little more formally than her, but even my brilliant white tux and silver vest were no match for her.
I refused to tell Jill where we were going. The only thing I would tell her was that we were going to one of my favorite places. We had some extra time before our reservation, so we took the long route along the side of the mountain above the valley with plenty of time to chat. We then drove down past the Mount Timpanogas Temple and into a wooded park that was nearby. It was dark by now, but when we pulled into a circular driveway in the middle of the woods we could still see the dark shape of my brother Jared. As we pulled up, Jared opened the door for Jill, took the keys from me, indicated for us to walk up a dimly lit path into the trees and took the car to park it. Halfway up the dark path was my friend Spencer. Upon seeing us he greeted us kindly and offered to show us to our table.
The sky was clear, and the stars were bright enough that we could see our way along the path among the lush green trees that surrounded us. Soon we could hear a faint Jazz band with Frank Sinatra crooning in the foreground, and before long we entered an old stone amphitheater, rounded the corner and headed up some stone stairs. Upon reaching the top of the stairs we caught sight of a beautiful candle lit table, with a reservation for two, placed perfectly on a small stone balcony overlooking the amphitheater and a large grassy park where, on the weekends in the Summer months, wedding receptions are frequently held. We were then seated and served a gourmet meal of chicken and vegetables, which I had cooked myself.
The meal and the conversation were wonderful. (There was even a choice of drinks, matching cloth napkins and table cloth, covered chairs, and Frank Sinatra playing an extra long set!) Desert was Jr Mints, which happened to be Jill's favorite treat, and also happened to be the cue for my brother to change the music to Earth Angel. As soon as the music changed I stood up and asked Jill if she wanted to dance.
We danced and talked, and one song turned into five. As we turned and the stars twinkled in Jill's eyes I felt like I was in heaven. We then moved down the steps and walked arm in arm in the moonlight through the grassy park. When we arrived back at the circular driveway my car had magically appeared back at the bottom of the wooded path where we had left it. When I opened her door Jill was pleasantly surprised to find a single long-stemmed red rose sitting perfectly on her seat. With a large smile she took a seat in the car and delicately lifted the rose to her nose, and enjoyed it all the way home.
As I passed by the employee break room at the Fun Center where I work I caught a glimpse of a very attractive young lady that was just receiving her new work shirts. She was our most recent hire, and this was my first time ever seeing her. But for some reason, that first time I looked at her, the thought came into my mind "You're going to marry this girl."
Having worked many jobs around many datable people I've learned the difficult lesson that it is a bad thing to date the people you work with, and I had come to the conclusion that I would just avoid it altogether. This was a different story, though. I was going to marry this girl! So I asked her out.
It turns out that Jill was very popular among the young and single at the Fun Center. Realizing this I could see that if I was going to have a chance at marrying her I would need to make a strong first impression. Something that would set me apart from all the rest. Something different. With this thought in mind I scheduled a date with her on the day before her birthday and made quite a plan!
I picked her up in the afternoon. Jill was a very active girl, so we went on a hike to one of my favorite waterfalls. We went boulder jumping and then found a very nice quiet place to sit down, eat some snacks and chat on a large flat boulder that was surrounded by a beautiful, green, round wall of trees. I then told her that I wanted to take her to eat somewhere special for her birthday and that she would probably want to dress nice for the occasion. With that thought in mind I dropped her off at home so that she could change.
When I picked Jill up for dinner she was beautiful! Her rugged jeans and tight t-shirt has transformed into a gorgeous black dinner gown. Her dusty sweater had changed into a sparkling fitted deep maroon top. Her muddy tennis shoes had been replaced with a pair of simple open toed high heels, and her long brown hair was pulled back off of her tanned olive face and placed, almost in a formal fashion, in curls on the crown of her head. The only thing that wasn't different was the smiling glow of her beautiful blue eyes. I had been slightly afraid that I would dress a little more formally than her, but even my brilliant white tux and silver vest were no match for her.
I refused to tell Jill where we were going. The only thing I would tell her was that we were going to one of my favorite places. We had some extra time before our reservation, so we took the long route along the side of the mountain above the valley with plenty of time to chat. We then drove down past the Mount Timpanogas Temple and into a wooded park that was nearby. It was dark by now, but when we pulled into a circular driveway in the middle of the woods we could still see the dark shape of my brother Jared. As we pulled up, Jared opened the door for Jill, took the keys from me, indicated for us to walk up a dimly lit path into the trees and took the car to park it. Halfway up the dark path was my friend Spencer. Upon seeing us he greeted us kindly and offered to show us to our table.
The sky was clear, and the stars were bright enough that we could see our way along the path among the lush green trees that surrounded us. Soon we could hear a faint Jazz band with Frank Sinatra crooning in the foreground, and before long we entered an old stone amphitheater, rounded the corner and headed up some stone stairs. Upon reaching the top of the stairs we caught sight of a beautiful candle lit table, with a reservation for two, placed perfectly on a small stone balcony overlooking the amphitheater and a large grassy park where, on the weekends in the Summer months, wedding receptions are frequently held. We were then seated and served a gourmet meal of chicken and vegetables, which I had cooked myself.
The meal and the conversation were wonderful. (There was even a choice of drinks, matching cloth napkins and table cloth, covered chairs, and Frank Sinatra playing an extra long set!) Desert was Jr Mints, which happened to be Jill's favorite treat, and also happened to be the cue for my brother to change the music to Earth Angel. As soon as the music changed I stood up and asked Jill if she wanted to dance.
We danced and talked, and one song turned into five. As we turned and the stars twinkled in Jill's eyes I felt like I was in heaven. We then moved down the steps and walked arm in arm in the moonlight through the grassy park. When we arrived back at the circular driveway my car had magically appeared back at the bottom of the wooded path where we had left it. When I opened her door Jill was pleasantly surprised to find a single long-stemmed red rose sitting perfectly on her seat. With a large smile she took a seat in the car and delicately lifted the rose to her nose, and enjoyed it all the way home.