A Love Story continued ...

The next night came and we doubled with a good friend of mine and his date. My friend drove and we headed toward Chicago. Being the romantic big spender that I am we went to a baseball game. Hey I love baseball and it was a night game in Chicago in early May. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, early May, night time at the ball park should have meant cool weather with the chance that she would need some help staying warm. (I had a plan) Anyway, my buddy got stopped for speeding on the way to the game and talked his way out of the ticket. (Still not sure how he did that) The game was the Chicago White Sox versus the Oakland A’s. It wasn’t the Cubs but this was before Wrigley Field had lights. (Did I mention this story started a long time ago?) We got seats in the first couple of rows down the right field line. Unfortunately it was a pretty warm night, especially for early May, so much for the plan. However, we were seated by a guy who definitely went past his alcohol limit. He decided that my date (wife) was someone he could talk with and share his opinions to and so I was needed after all. While at the game (we got real food after the game) I bought her some peanuts, you can’t go to a baseball game without having some in the shell peanuts. After we were married I found out that she didn’t really like baseball and she really didn’t like peanuts. (So how charming was I that I got her away?)

The date went relatively well, at least as well as a date where you take someone to something they don’t like, buy them something they don’t want, get stopped by the cops and sit by a talkative drunk. So since the date had gone so well I figured I would go for a kiss at the end. As I walked her to her dorm we stopped for the obligatory “I had a nice time” statements and decided this was the moment. So…I leaned in and asked her if it was okay if I kissed her. Yes, I asked her! It was either really respectful or really lame. You have to decide for yourself. But before you vote realize that she said yes, which made for a much less awkward moment than leaning in and not knowing if she will return your intention or turn away. I was either scared of being rejected when leaning in or very smart. Only I know for sure.

The next day she went back to her guy and I went back to … well I am sure it was really exciting. The school year ended a few days later. She stayed in the area for the summer and I went home to work 2 jobs. I am not sure if we had any contact that summer or not. Without cell phones it would have been up to sending letters, so I if there was contact there couldn’t have been much. Why? Everyone who has ever received a letter (not a birthday card) from me raise your hands. That’s what I thought. Turns out she saw the other guy quite a bit and made some contact with the former girlfriend.

Then the next school year began and something changed. You see while we were apart …