Make the World Go Away

Is this supposed to happen on a first date?

I’m sure we’ve all heard the same thing from people who just started a new relationship: Oh, it’s perfect, blah blah blah…magical etc. But how many times does the magic actually stick around for longer than a few months? How many people absolutely lose all perspective of life as they knew it beforehand?

Tom and I met through Plenty of Fish. From my end, the darn algorithm kept pointing me at this really terrible selfie of this guy…I ignored it because it just seemed kinda sketchy. Just too, I don’t know, off-putting. His profile was kind of interesting, but then people can write anything. I was already dealing with some young dude just out looking for…well I’m sure you can guess.

Then one day, my birthday, February 13, in my inbox came “Hi.” I left it for a few days (At this point I don’t remember what else was in that first message). Do I respond? I asked myself. Well, alright then. I fired back a dubious “Hi” in response. Cracking open the door, so to speak. This opened the dialogue some, as we traded more messages about ourselves. When I told him I had a couple houses I cleaned in Weyburn on Thursdays, we decided on a coffee at Tim Horton’s to kick things off.

There is a free subscription option, but support in a paid subscription will be much appreciated. If you don’t want to commit to a recurring amount, click the “Tip Jar” link below and give any one-time amount you prefer.

We don’t quite qualify this as our first “date”, even though it was literally an all morning thing that made the world take a back seat. No, the real first date was another thing altogether.

Owing to our mutual love of history and literature of all kinds, as well as science, we decided on a trip to Regina with our kids. His daughter was 21 at the time, mine was 12. The science centre was having the DaVinci exhibit, perfect for us. Chapters bookstore (now Indigo) was our other main stop. Then supper at Glitters, for a decent buffet before heading back home.

All of us enjoyed the science centre, both the general exhibits and interactive displays as well as the DaVinci pieces. There was also a movie about it, so of course we took that in; but, aren’t chaperones (aka kids) supposed to sit behind their charges to supervise? That’s not what happened. We sat behind the girls. And the second we held hands, there was electricity happening. Tingling, invigorating electric charges.

Once we were in Chapters, I think the world was kind of fuzzy for us. Oh, we perused the titles; aircraft and aviation, history, adventure fiction, thriller novels, we love so many genres…then I bent over to look at something and he forgot his name. We spent a good long while in that store, and were one step short of looking for a broom closet. But it was when we went back out to the parking lot that reality disappeared.

Standing out there by the van, a first kiss…but not what we could ever have expected. The world spun away and completely left us. Gone. There was only the two of us for that tiny moment in time. When it was over, he said “I can’t see, is that normal?”. “I don’t know,” I replied. The rest of the date was in a daze; so much so, that when getting gas, he forgot to put the cap back on the tank. 12 years later, the fire still lives.