Post #3

More of Our Love Story in Bits and Pieces

The summer I was 15, my mom and dad received a phone call from Nathan's parents. They were seeking special permission since I was so young, for Nathan to begin calling me on the phone. (Imagine that courtesy in 1996?!) So began the phone calls. Nathan called once and then didn't call back for 3 weeks. I was beside myself. My dad had a strict no-calling-guys policy, which interestingly enough, my sister has never had enforced. Hmmm... That first child to date thing, I suppose. My dad also has a personal thing with "if you lower your expectations, you're less likely to get hurt." So for 3 weeks, I heard, "Well, I don't want you to be hurt, so you should get used to the idea that he's never going to call again!" And then he called. And called again. He occasionally came up, and we would go out. Long walks, long drives, restaurants. Our relationship was very shall-we-say... platonic. No touch. Just talk. I guess in many ways, it mimicked the courtship-type dating that some endorse. I like it, because it kept our emotions and hormones at bay while we learned about each other.
One memorable date was simply a walk to the local creek. There was nothing special about this creek, it was just the closest. My parents didn't require us to have a chaperone, but we did. A little mangy mutt came along from the neighborhood to be our guard-dog. OK, this section of country road had no houses, just trees. It trotted along ahead of us, stopping every few minutes to get all paranoid about the trees, raise its hackles and be weird. It was hilarious! It followed us all the way home, and sat behind us on the porch steps while we talked. At some point, I asked Nathan, "What do you think?" And at that precise moment, the dog hacked up a hairball. Had to have been there, I guess ;o)