Before Dating Apps, There Was Mom! – Part 2

One more day until my wife, Kathy, and I celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, which is about two people having and raising two other people, who are now married and have produced our four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. It’s about one family’s legacy and its value to society, not just about us.

Picking up where I left off yesterday… Back in 1975, when our love story began, there was no such thing as a cellphone. Each house typically had one telephone, mounted on a wall in the kitchen, for the convenience of homemakers, who spent much of their time there.

The problem with that location was that everybody in the house could hear what the person on the phone was saying. There was no privacy, and calling up a new girl to ask her out on a first date would be painfully embarrassing. Therefore, using one’s home phone for this delicate purpose was a nonstarter, at least for me.

So, I left our house to find a public phone, and preferably outside our city limits, of course. My hands were wet as they tightly gripped the steering wheel while I drove north on S.O.M. Center Road out of my hometown, Solon, Ohio, in search of an isolated phone booth, in which I’d coax the timid superman inside me to come out. I discovered one in front of the old Village of Moreland Hills police station.

My nervousness level was unprecedented as I parked my car and fast-walked to the public booth. The stakes rose with each second. I knew I had to make this call because I really wanted to, and I was convinced I’d passed the point of no return. Therefore, before my shaky courage abandoned me, I dropped a dime into the phone and dialed her up.

She answered, but said she couldn’t talk at that moment and, lowering her voice, told me to call back tomorrow. That was okay, for at least she signaled she was open to communicating with me, which was a major victory. I later learned her newest romantic interest was sitting in the family living room. Obviously, that relationship was about to be terminated because now I could ‘leap tall buildings in a single bound!’

Yet, on my drive home, the real panic set in as the boldness within me dissipated: Where am I to take her? What could we do together? Am I really prepared to pull this dating thing off? Well, I was consoled by the thought that at least I must’ve made a good first impression during my grocery store visit. But, man, I was so far down the road into uncharted territory that there was never a thought of turning back!

Then, on our second call, she suggested I come meet her at the local bowling alley. She was on a team in a bowling league. I met a few of her friends, made small talk with her, and left feeling like I was on a giant water slide zooming toward real love.

She did, however, agree to a real date, and I was ready for that, already having developed a game plan! I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow, the same day in 1976 when the trajectory of my life changed forever. You see, although I couldn’t fully comprehend it at the time, the best in life for Kathy and me was on its way and still is to come!

“Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:14 NIV)