My first official date with Reed was to a college Valentine banquet in 1976. The one time we got together before that was when we were both in the college TV room and Reed said, "My church is having a taco night for college age, wanna come?" At that point I'd go anywhere for free food. Anyway, a Valentine banquet is an awkward first date. The speaker was addressing couples in love. The message was about not sacrificing the 99 percent of the things you like about your boyfriend/girlfriend for the 1 percent you don't. I only knew about one percent of Reed, and I wasn't sure how I felt about even that. As it turned out, Reed was the first of four guys that invited me to that banquet. For an unpopular girl who never dated in high school (not that I wanted to, dating in my high school was synonymous with getting drunk), getting asked out by four guys was a Vatican worthy miracle. So I couldn't help but wonder through the awkward evening in my borrowed dress, if I should have taken one of the other offers.
Our first date was awkward and our courtship involved lots of breaking up--my fault, I was interested in someone else. But he had gone home and Reed was still around. And there is something irresistible about someone who keeps loving you, even when you push them away. Eventually I realized I loved him back. We got engaged June 25, 1976, despite a proposal about as romantic as his taco night invitation.
"I wanna marry you." Reed
"I wanna marry you, too." Me
"Will you?" Reed
Long pause. Gulp. "Yes." ? Me
Not only was Reed not on bended knee, he didn't even get up off the couch.
One year to the day from that romantic milestone, we got married. That fractured fairy tale occasion is in my previous blog, Our Ominous Wedding. Yet here we are 48 years from that first date. Happy Valentine's Day, my first and lifetime love. That one percent is still pretty annoying, but you're a keeper. See, I was listening at the banquet after all.
