By the time our first date came, I had seen Andy once and had spoken to him for a few hours on the phone. In spite of that, I was really nervous. He picked me up at my house at maybe 3 p.m. We went bowling because I wanted to do an activity that could involve both conversation and fun. Neither of us had been bowling for years. We bowled 4 games – I won two and he won two. One highlight of bowling was how excited Andy got every time I got a strike (didn’t happen too often). One time after I got a strike, Andy told me that he had just prayed that I would get a strike. I felt selfish because I hadn’t prayed for him to get a strike yet. As soon as I prayed for him to get a strike, he got one, but I didn’t tell him that I prayed that. Another memorable moment was when Andy fell down while throwing the ball once. We gave each other high fives for most strikes and maybe for some spares too, but otherwise didn’t touch each other. After bowling, we called Phil and Katie, who had stolen our date idea and were bowling at the same time in Fargo. It was fun to talk to them because both Andy and I knew them and it made me feel more comfortable and connected with him. After bowling, we went to eat at Applebee’s. I correctly guessed that Andy would order a burger. He incorrectly guessed what I would order. Dinner was just fine. We had plenty to talk about. After dinner, Andy drove me to my house and said he wanted to see the bumper sticker on my car (HESCMNBK – Tell a Friend), which had somehow come up in our conversation. Then we looked around my house a bit. I think I decided I could check to see if he had ideas for what to do with my house since he has an architecture degree and I didn’t know what else to do with him. He was probably just too nice to tell me all the things he’d really want to change. After that, we decided to play the game Bible Trivia at my wobbly kitchen table. I think I probably did better than him only because I picked the cards I wanted to be quizzed on and I chose simple subjects like “John the Baptist.” Andy let me choose his cards and I chose difficult subjects like “death.” At one point, after missing a couple questions in a row on the subject of “death,” Andy asked laughing, “What category is this anyway?” I think he stayed until 10 p.m. or so. He joked that he should leave his cell phone with me and freak out Phil if Phil called Andy the next morning to see how things went. When Andy left, he didn’t go for a hug. That was fine with me.
Posted: Tuesday, June 15, 2004