The dating dance

And so the dating dance began. And what a dance it was.

Everything started out great. I even had my first kiss (and he was such a gentleman - he even asked my permission first.)

But one little hiccup happened many months in.

The evening started out like any other date. He picked me up and we were headed to a movie. He made the statement, "I have something I'd like to talk to you about later."

That statement set the course for a very interesting evening, and even for the weeks to come.

I got nervous. Really nervous.

We sat through the movie and then went out to dinner.

Nerves intensifying along the way.

We then headed to MSU to chat. He parked, we started walking and ended up at Beaumont Tower on campus. By this time I was sick-to-my-stomach nervous. I excused myself from our conversation and walked away to try and calm myself down. That sure didn't work.

He says I got sick, but I don't recall that happening.

I do remember however, the drive back to my house and telling him to pull over while I lost my dinner along side the road.

Yeah...how romantic.

We never did have the chat that night. (And he just wanted to tell me that he loved me!)

For weeks (possibly months...it's all a blur) to come, I battled with getting sick on dates. Yet he stayed ever so patient and gave me the space I needed.

It got so bad that at one point I broke things off. That lasted one day.

That's when I knew I had it bad for this guy.

The two hour parking lot chats transformed into letters once the school year started. Passed back and forth somehow throughout the week. Letters left on each other's windshields. Letters traded at church. Lots and lots of letters. Phrases of love and liking and funny pictures and day-to-day activities.

I graduated from high school that following spring. He graduated from college the same month. That summer I worked at the church as a custodian. We had lunch together every day, sharing smiles as we passed each other, blushing when he'd wink at me. Just knowing he was there made the day fly by.

We had a rhythm. Even through my first year of college.

Then things got a bit more interesting.