Even though it is still early in my relationship with Mike, I feel the need to record our story. With the knowledge that I'm going to marry him (no proposal or anything yet, but I just know) in the front of my mind, I don't want to forget those special moments that made up this beginning.
I had decided to join a dating website after a year of repairing myself after an emotionally abusive and painful 6 year relationship. I went on one date from this website and it was awful. The guy was a complete jerk and he was really bizarre. So, on March 12, 2011, I logged on to the website to cancel my account. I saw that I had a message. Expecting the usual, "You're so pretty, message me if you want to talk" I was pleasantly surprised to find a message from a guy named Konrad who had obviously taken some time to look through my profile as he commented on some of the things I had written. Included was his phone number - in case I wanted to talk or text. I hemmed and hawed for a little while, then sent the first of many texts:
"Hi Konrad - this is Karen... I usually don't do this but you seem legit so... how's your weekend going?"
3 hours and a couple of hundred texts later (during which I found out his family calls him Mike, he has 7 siblings, and his favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption), I found myself agreeing to meet him that night for dinner. I remember my nerves being completely fried. Colleen was at the house with me and I squealed and jumped in the shower. While I was in the shower, I thought about this man I was going to go meet. I had seen his picture and didn't really think he was my type. Silly shallow me - little did I know... I was excited about the prospect of meeting a new friend that I had a lot in common with.
I got out of the shower and fixed my hair - I wore it down and straightened it, put on some make-up, and got dressed in a green shirt (to bring out more green in my eyes, duh) and jeans. I threw on my favorite black jacket and got in my car to make the 5 minute drive to BJ's Brewhouse. He texted me and told me he was waiting on a bench out front. I got out of my car after running a brush through my hair and walked up to greet him.
To be honest with you, dinner was a blur. I remember he ordered pasta and a beer and I ordered water and a cheeseburger. I remember laughing - a lot. I remember feeling stupid for ordering the cheeseburger and having to eat with my hands in front of him (he teased me about this quite a bit the first month). And I remember asking him if he wanted to go to a pool hall with me to hang out with a couple of my girls. I remember him saying yes. I remember he left the waitress a very nice tip (Bonus points for him... I waited tables for 6 years through college) and then we left to go to Luke's Pool Hall.
At Lukes, he interacted well with the girls and we played darts for a little while. Then, the girls were ready to leave (was it 12:30 pm already?!) and I didn't want the date to end. So we sat on some chairs in Luke's and started talking. That's when I knew. Damn. I'm going to fall in love with this guy. And there is nothing I can do about it. We didn't leave Luke's until 3:30 - an hour and a half after they closed. I thought he would kiss me good night. He didn't - but he did ask me to dance with him in the empty parking lot. We danced and then he gave me a hug and a promise to call me. It was the perfect first date.
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