Six years ago, Laura and I went on our first date. We had met a month previous and had e-mailed each other from that time since she was in the Twin Cities and I was in Duluth. The Fourth of July was coming up, so I was going home for an extended weekend. I e-mailed Laura and said that we should get together to talk about Fantasy Football strategy or something like that. I suggested that we meet for dinner and she agreed!
The fourth passes and Monday, the seventh comes around. That day, I met my sister Georgie for lunch at the downtown Chipotle on Nicollet. I told her that I was meeting up with Laura that night. However, I did not know if it was a date or not. We never said it was a date. So, I fretted about this minor detail. We were meeting at the restaurant as I was not picking her up. The purpose of the meet up was fantasy football, not wooing. So, I was confused. In hindsight, it is always fun to think about the sorts of things that you fret about when you are single and dating. You worry and second guess and do all of this other stuff and at the end of the day, it doesn’t even matter.
Later that night, I meet Laura at (the now defunct and grateful for it) Copeland’s in the City Center. I do remember that we did talk about Fantasy football, so that criteria was accomplished. We did the standard getting to know you conversation as well. I remember that for dinner, I tried the gumbo and it was about a step above Campbell’s soup. I then ordered the crawfish etoufee and that was terrible; the roux tasted like beef gravy. Bad meal. At the end of it, I paid, though she did offer to pay half. It was close to nine at that point and was talked about whether we should do anything else. I said that Road Rules on MTV was starting at nine and she got excited, so we quickly drove over to her place to watch! Sad, but this is why we were compatible! While there, I fessed up that I did not know if this was a date or not. Surprisingly, Laura was not sure if it was a date either, but said that it could be. I then responded, “Good, that is why I paid for dinner!”
We saw each other once more that week and then I was back to Duluth. She came up to visit a few weeks later for my birthday, which officially set our long-distance relationship in motion. As awkward as our first date was, I made it up by properly wooing her. I am glad that it was a bit awkward as now, we have a fun little story to tell our kids about our first date.
Happy Dateaversary babe!