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Summary:
Joe and Evelyn met while attending night classes at the
University of Delaware, which started in February of 1996.
Their first date
was a Charlie Daniels Band Concert in
September
of that year. Why did it take so long, you ask?
Read
on...
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| Back
in February of '96, I started taking Computer Science evening
classes at the
University of Delaware. I was sitting in the classroom on the
first
night of class - the professor was just about to get things under way -
when two more students walked in: a young man, and behind
him, a gorgeous young woman. They walked in slowly, coming down the
side of
the room to my right, looking for a place to sit. I was
instantly
attracted to the young woman and stared unabashedly as they made their
way
into the room. As the young woman scanned the room for
seating options,
she
noticed me noticing her, and our eyes locked. Right about
then, the
young man (I couldn't tell if it was a friend, co-worker, or boyfriend)
came to a stop. Being distracted, she did not notice that he
had
stopped, so she bumped into him. Slightly embarrassed, and
possibly annoyed at the young man for stopping abruptly, she directed
him toward empty
seats in the row in front of me. The young man came down the row first and had a seat. The young woman ended up seated in front of me slightly to the left - the seat directly in front of me remained vacant. This afforded me with an excellent view of her, and I found it difficult to concentrate on anything else during class. To make matters worse (better?), after awhile she turned slightly to the right in her chair - away from the young man on her left. This gave me an even better vantage, and a couple times during the evening, she glanced back at me. I can't say for sure she was interested, but at the very least, she was curious. I was smitten. |
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As
the semester went on, I struck up conversations with the young woman
(and the young man) before classes and during breaks. The
young woman - whose name I
learned was Evelyn - made this
easy; she was receptive and friendly. I
did learn, however, that she and the young man were dating.
Nevertheless, I sensed that she was attracted to me, but there was
nothing I could do about it, of course. So I continued to
chat
with her (them) during class, got to know her, and basically just bided
my time. One evening, in the classroom before class, we were talking about which courses we would be taking next semester. Evelyn remarked that she hadn't yet received the U of D curriculum book that they mail out. I told her that I had an extra, retrieved it from my backpack, and gave it to her. Conveniently, it still had the mailing label attached on the back with my full name and address. (Evelyn later told me that she did indeed notice this, and considered that I was - in effect - giving her my number, but she said that she was too shy to act on it.) Fast-forward to September 13, 1996. There was a Craft Fair at the University, and a mishmash of vendors, arts and craft exhibitors, and non-profit organizations were set up on campus. It was a beautiful autumn Sunday, so I decided to take Jack into Newark to check it out. As Jack and I were walking around the Craft Fair, we ran into Evelyn, who was there with a girlfriend. What a nice surprise! (I noticed that the young man was not with them, but I did not ask.) |
| I introduced
them to Jack, and Evelyn introduced us to her friend Heather. We
chatted
for awhile, and then we went our separate
ways. Later
that afternoon, I was back at the house, and the phone rang - and you
can probably guess who it was. Evelyn - with much
encouragement from
Heather - was calling to tell me that they had tickets to go see The
Charlie Daniels Band tonight, and she wanted to know if I'd like to
go. Of course I said I would love to! (But what
about that young
man she'd been
dating? She said she stopped seeing him some time ago...) So our first date was a Charlie Daniels Band concert at the Big Kahuna in Wilmington, and we had a great time. Her friend Heather and her brother Joe went along, too. (That was nice because I think things are a little more relaxed in a group situation like that.) When we arrived at the Big Kahuna, we went inside the nightclub and played pool for awhile and had a bite to eat while waiting for the band to start. (They would be performing outside on the deck.) Charlie Daniels actually started playing while we were eating, but it was simulcast on numerous TV screens inside, so we could see and hear them from where we were. We eventually made our way outside onto the deck. Although it was a fairly large area, it was really crowded and there was no place to sit. That actually worked in our favor - Evelyn stood directly in front of me and since people were packed in kinda tight, we were essentially smashed into each other for the duration of the concert. This turned out to be a very effective ice-breaker... :-) |
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