Friday, June 28, 2013

How I Met Your Father

by Deanna


Since the inception of this collaborative blog we have all revealed pieces and parts of our lives.  Most of us have talked about our children, our grandchildren, our likes, sometimes our dislikes, our love of photography, our love of nature, our habits both good and bad, and the food we love.  But today I want to tell you a story of how I met my husband. 

I was a sophomore in college at TCU in Ft. Worth, TX.   It was a Saturday the first day of a week-long spring break and I was home ready to enjoy time off from school.    I was surprised when the phone rings and it is Claudia, a college dorm buddy.  She is asking me to go on a blind date….oh no, a blind date, I hate blind dates.  She begs, pleads with me….oh he is tall, dark & very good looking.  He (the tall dark & handsome) is in town briefly with a buddy visiting his buddy’s brother before the two of them head down to Mexico for their spring break. 

“We are getting dates for everyone, come on, it will be fun,” Claudia says. 

“Oh, OK, I hate doing this, but just this once.” I replied.

The clock struck 7:30 PM, time for this tall, dark & handsome blind date to show up at my doorstep.  And speaking of doorstep, I had a sneaky way of spying on whoever stood on my doorstep prior to actually opening the front door.  Our house was built in an L shape and very conveniently the bathroom window looked directly onto the front porch, eye level.  Sooooo, anyone who rang the doorbell always got the once-over between the slats of the bathroom window blinds.   When the doorbell rang I was already in position for the look-see, and what I saw was NOT a tall, dark and wasn’t sure about the handsome part person standing on the front porch. 

So naturally the first words out of my mouth upon opening the front door was, “You are not tall & dark, (I did not add handsome, didn’t want to totally embarrass the guy) what happened to the tall & dark guy?”  Poor fella, he began to stammer and say he was a brother of tall  & dark that unexpectedly came into town at the last minute and when dividing up the dates, tall & dark decided that he better take the taller gal and leave his brother who was shorter with shorter gal, that would be me.  OK, I know that must be confusing…..Cliff (tall, dark & handsome) is the older brother that was headed down to Mexico with his buddy.   Gary (brother of tall, dark & handsome) is the younger brother, who is shorter, not particularly dark, not exactly handsome, but really cute.  OK, got that straight.  Anyway, Cliff decided that the first girl that was picked up was a bit tall, so he would save his brother, Gary, the embarrassment of being with a woman taller than him.  They were all informed that I was short, so I could end up with any of them with no tall girl, short guy embarrassment attached.
 
Now that we got that issue settled, we are all in one car (a big station wagon, no such thing as SUV’s back in those days) and now the question is, what do we do now?  A movie, of course…. doesn’t everyone go to a movie on that first blind date?  There is safety in sitting in a dark theater for a couple of hours, no searching for words to say in those  first awkward conversations, no looking directly at each other, just sharing a box of popcorn .... God forbid our fingers would happen to touch while scooping out the corn kernels. The movie was “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”.  Do you remember that movie?  A good movie for a first date, cute and safe.  Actually I don't even think there was such a thing as an R Rated Movie in those days.

The movie is over, now what?  OK let’s park (White Rock Lake was the place to park) and talk, get to know each other a little better.  Now remember there are 3 other couples in the car with us, all of us practically strangers, but lots of talk and laughter ensues and the whole evening was a roaring success.   A good blind date with a not so tall, a not so dark, a not so handsome, but a really cute nice guy. 

Cliff goes off to Mexico with his buddy but not before calling me for a date.  I guess the "taller" girl wasn't that impressive.  Gary returns to Ft. Hood, TX where he was currently stationed in the Army and I spend the week at home enjoying my spring break.  But before I return to school in Ft. Worth, Gary returns to Dallas and calls wanting to try a 2nd date, this time no peeking required and 6 months later we were married. 

We all have a story to tell about how we met our sweethearts....we would love to hear your story, please share with us.  

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." 
                                                                                                                ~  Mignon McLaughlin



16 comments:

Sarah Huizenga said...

Such a lovely story. Six months! You didn't waste any time :) I met my husband in the grocery store where we both worked. I worked in the bakery and he in the produce section. We were good friends for a good six months before we started dating, dated for 4 months then got engaged, and were married a year later.

AFishGirl said...

I loved reading this story, Deanna. Smiling so much to hear you tell it.

Carol said...

Wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing them. It's amazing how people find each other.

kelly said...

i love stories about how spouses meet. thank you for sharing yours. :) i met mine at the environmental lab where we both worked.

janice said...

I loved reading your blind date love story Deanna! Thanks for sharing.
I was a sophomore in High School and daydreamed as Ted(a popular senior) walked by the open art room door... oh, if he only knew I was alive! By the end of the school year I decided If I didn't make my move I would never see him again after he graduated, so I asked him to sign my yearbook?!? was I crazy, how embarrassing, he doesn't even know me! That summer, we happened to be at the same place and he came up to me to talk, your that silly girl that asked me to sign.... yeah(is my face red?). We dated, he went into the Navy following his fathers footsteps, It was my senior year and my mom didn't want me to have a long distance relationship, she thought we were too serious.... 4 years later her looked me up and we were married in 3 months. 33 years later, still in love.

heyjudephotography said...

What a nice story Deanna. I loved reading it. I have always said that it is truly a miracle that my husband and I met. A guy who had liked me, and asked me out numerous times, called me - he was home from basic training in the Army and he had a surprise for me. Come visit, come see. Of course I said no. However,as I drove to a friends house shortly after that phone call, I turned around and drove to this guys house - the one I had no interest in whatsoever. Not sure what made me go. But, the surprise was one of his Army buddies visiting there. We visited, had a good time. Shortly after there was an outdoor concert in my area. For the first time ever I picked up the phone and asked a guy out - it was "the friend", who is now my husband. We will be married 30 years in October.

terriporter said...

Oh, I am loving all of these stories and especially yours, Deanna! You're bringing back a lot of memories for all of us. I was working in a law firm and one of the new associates was about to start work there. He had been a summer clerk the year before but I wasn't working there yet. One of the girls I worked with raved about him and when he started work, I thought, "Okay, he's alright." But before very long as I got to know him, I knew exactly what she'd been talking about! A year later we were married and just had our 35th anniversary! Thanks for this post, Deanna. I know you're thinking a lot about your sweetie and all the wonderful times you've shared. Thanks for sharing one of them with us.

Dotti said...

Somehow I knew you'd have a warm, humorous story about how you met Gary! So typically 'you'. I love it! My husband and I met in church. We'd both just broken engagements with other people and ... the rest, as they say, is history. {Not terribly exciting, is it ... except for our 'checkered' pasts. :-D}

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Thanks for sharing your 'love story' Deanna just like a novel...

Nicki said...

That is the sweetest, dearest story. Deanna you are certainly a catch - especially for a short girl!

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

What a sweet story, Deanna!

Buttercup said...

Wonderful story. My parents were introduced by friends of their parents. They met in October and were married the following March 2. I was always amazed by how fast things went and my mother would say, "We just knew."

Kim Stevens said...

Oh Deanna, I adored this post, what a great idea to share with us! And, mine was a blind date too!

Unknown said...

Hmmm....Once upon a time Dream Boy & I met while we were in different high schools. He was dating one of my friends. He went on to date a few other of my friends, while I was in looooovvve with a real loser.
After I graduated I began working at a clothing store w/ his sister. We were bored one night & were going to go out after work - but then she bailed. She instead called Dream Boy to go out with me. I was embarrassed & didn't want him to feel pressured into asking me out, but I had recently broke up with the afore mentioned loser and thought, "why not?" We agreed to go out the next weekend.
Now - you have to know this very important tidbit. My mom & Dream Boy's dad grew up across the street from each other. Dream Boy's dad was the kid on the block who would start trouble & then run so everyone else got blamed for it.
So back to that night - I go home from work and I'm talking with my mom. "mom" I said. "Do you remember Jim ~~~~~~?" She looked at me & said, "yes - and if you ever go out with one of his kid's, I'll kill ya!"
Well - Dream Boy & I went out the next week & we were married 2 years later!! My mom loved Dream Boy as if he were her own son.
And we are living happily ever after.

Nancy said...

Falling in love over and over again... yes

Jeanne said...

What a wonderful story this is deanna! I love hearing how you met your husband and how wonderful to be able to look back on those wonderful times. Know that you had many years of wonderful time together! Thank so much for sharing this!

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