How I Met My Wife (pt 1)
Copyright 2010 by Vernon W. Harmon. All Rights Reserved.
The following is as true as I can remember it. Names have not been changed to protect anybody.
PART 1: THE SETUP
Ten years ago today (which was a Friday) I was a single, 28 year old guy living in Pittsburgh, working to get dates, and still hoping to find “the one” for me. I had a dinner date lined up for that night and another possible date for the next night. Earlier in the week I had run into Christina, a friend who lived in my building; I hadn’t seen her in a while and she told me that she was going to the bowling alley up the street that Friday with a bunch of her coworkers if I wanted to join them. Christina is British and was a social butterfly, so hanging out with her was always a good time, but I had already lined up my dinner date, so I told her that I already had plans. She told me that if the plans fell through, I was welcome to join them.
The dinner date I had lined up was actually one I was only half-heartedly interested in. The girl, Darla, was a friend of another one of my neighbors, and she had been flirting with me for quite a while - it might have actually been a couple of years, I can’t remember the timeframe - and practically daring me to ask her out, but she really wasn’t my type, and she smoked. Well, I had finally run out of excuses and decided that one date couldn’t hurt so we agreed to have dinner and see if it went anywhere.
Sometime prior to the arranged Friday dinner date - I think it was the day before - Darla called me and told me that her grandfather had died. Of course, I extended my condolences and offered to reschedule our date, but she insisted that she wanted to go through with our plans since it had taken so long to get to that point. I couldn’t argue, so I agreed to pick her up for dinner Friday as planned, even though I thought it wasn’t a terribly good idea, and wasn’t particularly looking forward to an awkward, grief-filled dinner.
And that is pretty much exactly what it turned out to be. The dinner was filled with awkward silences and a decided lack of energy and chemistry, and the whole experience fell very flat. As the end of dinner approached, I asked her if she’d like to do something more after dinner, perhaps a movie or something? She (thankfully!) turned down the offer and said she thought she should probably make an early night of it (IIRC, the funeral was the next day). I dropped her off at her house with an awkward hug, a lackluster kiss that she initiated, and my further condolences on her loss.
As I drove home, I looked at the time and noticed it was still pretty early - a little after 8 - and Christina had said they were meeting in the bar below the bowling alley at 8. I thought “It’s Friday, it’s early, the bar is a one block walk, and I wouldn’t mind socializing tonight, especially after such a depressing date.” So I got home, ditched the car and walked up to the bar, figuring that if I didn’t find Christina and her friends I could just walk back home, or catch a late movie at the theater next door. I had no idea my life was about to change.
to be continued…
The following is as true as I can remember it. Names have not been changed to protect anybody.
PART 1: THE SETUP
Ten years ago today (which was a Friday) I was a single, 28 year old guy living in Pittsburgh, working to get dates, and still hoping to find “the one” for me. I had a dinner date lined up for that night and another possible date for the next night. Earlier in the week I had run into Christina, a friend who lived in my building; I hadn’t seen her in a while and she told me that she was going to the bowling alley up the street that Friday with a bunch of her coworkers if I wanted to join them. Christina is British and was a social butterfly, so hanging out with her was always a good time, but I had already lined up my dinner date, so I told her that I already had plans. She told me that if the plans fell through, I was welcome to join them.
The dinner date I had lined up was actually one I was only half-heartedly interested in. The girl, Darla, was a friend of another one of my neighbors, and she had been flirting with me for quite a while - it might have actually been a couple of years, I can’t remember the timeframe - and practically daring me to ask her out, but she really wasn’t my type, and she smoked. Well, I had finally run out of excuses and decided that one date couldn’t hurt so we agreed to have dinner and see if it went anywhere.
Sometime prior to the arranged Friday dinner date - I think it was the day before - Darla called me and told me that her grandfather had died. Of course, I extended my condolences and offered to reschedule our date, but she insisted that she wanted to go through with our plans since it had taken so long to get to that point. I couldn’t argue, so I agreed to pick her up for dinner Friday as planned, even though I thought it wasn’t a terribly good idea, and wasn’t particularly looking forward to an awkward, grief-filled dinner.
And that is pretty much exactly what it turned out to be. The dinner was filled with awkward silences and a decided lack of energy and chemistry, and the whole experience fell very flat. As the end of dinner approached, I asked her if she’d like to do something more after dinner, perhaps a movie or something? She (thankfully!) turned down the offer and said she thought she should probably make an early night of it (IIRC, the funeral was the next day). I dropped her off at her house with an awkward hug, a lackluster kiss that she initiated, and my further condolences on her loss.
As I drove home, I looked at the time and noticed it was still pretty early - a little after 8 - and Christina had said they were meeting in the bar below the bowling alley at 8. I thought “It’s Friday, it’s early, the bar is a one block walk, and I wouldn’t mind socializing tonight, especially after such a depressing date.” So I got home, ditched the car and walked up to the bar, figuring that if I didn’t find Christina and her friends I could just walk back home, or catch a late movie at the theater next door. I had no idea my life was about to change.
to be continued…