Shannon here: Aspiring author, Karen Beery shares her first date with her husband and had me rolling. Any comments will go in Monday’s drawing. Deadline: Aug 27th, 11:59 pm. Here’s Karen:
Our Weird First Date by Karin Beery
My husband, Matt, and I met at a coffee shop when we stopped in at the same time. We hit it off, and he asked me out. Since I lived in a small town an hour away from where we met, I agreed to meet him in Traverse City again (because I couldn’t think of anything for us to do in a village of 982 people). I told him I’d be at a friend’s house and gave him directions to pick me up. Like many first dates, ours was memorable, but for very different reasons.
My friend lived at the end of a long, tree-lined driveway. I heard Matt’s car coming before I saw it. He rattled up next to her house in a faded Chevy Camaro (I would later find out it was the 1980 Indy Pace Car edition with the Corvette engine). He opened the passenger door for me – the floor was covered in fast food wrappers, bags, and cups. Matt pushed them aside to make room for my feet. When I sat down, he pulled the seat belt forward for me, grabbed a glove off the floor, shut the door, then dropped out of sight. Seconds after he disappeared, something banged on the floor beneath my feet.
Matt popped back up and climbed into the car. “Sorry, there’s a loose bolt that rattles out when I drive. Just had to push it back into place.”
After that, Matt and I drove around town, then we’d stop to walk around and talk, then we’d drive around some more. He took me to one of his favorite spots up Old Mission peninsula. On the way back to town, the sun had set. He pulled over to a dark, secluded spot on the road, threw the car into park, and jumped out. He disappeared into the woods. A few seconds later he re-emerged and climbed into the car. “Sorry,” he said. “Had to pee.”
After that, we returned to town and walked along the shore line by the marina. It was dark, but you could still see the lights reflecting off the water, and you could hear the waves pushing against the shore. I stopped to enjoy it, but Matt took my arm and moved me forward. “Sorry, but I just farted. Better keep moving.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted a second date. Sure, Matt’s good looking, he’s friendly, and he loves the Lord, but there’s nothing romantic about him (in fact, when I asked him to tell me something romantic, he didn’t hesitate when he said, “If we had a garage, I’d let you park your car in it”). He didn’t clean everything up to impress me. He didn’t try to win my heart with a façade that he couldn’t maintain.
From day one, Matt’s only ever been himself, and I think that’s why we just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Matt hasn’t changed. Sure, he’s matured some (who doesn’t after ten years?), but I knew exactly who I was getting on that first date.
Our relationship isn’t filled with flowers, gifts, or romantic dinners that you read about in novels. It’s filled with slap-happy laughter from staying up too late, and cooking together after a hard day at work, and helping each other with chores around the house so we can finish up early and float in our kayaks on the lake. He loves it when I wear jeans and a hoodie. He doesn’t care that I’m human too, and if something happens and I accidentally fart in public, he excuses himself to take the blame for my indiscretion.
I would never classify my relationship with Matt as romantic, but it’s wonderful. He loves me, supports me, prays with me, prays for me, snuggles me when I need it and gives me space when I don’t. Our first date wasn’t typical of most first dates, but it was the perfect beginning to our relationship.
About Karen: Owner of Write Now Editing and Copywriting Services, Karin Beery has had more than five hundred articles published in various periodicals, in addition to writing her novels. She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers, the American Christian Writers Association, and Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network. She is represented by literary agent Steve Hutson at Word Wise Media. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or at her website, www.karinbeery.com.
Question for Readers: What is the population where you live?
Come back Aug 22nd for Kelly Irvin!
6,000
300 people or less.
My county population is about 15,000 but my little town is
about 150.
My town used to have around 100 people and it was a joke that you had to count a few cows to get that number. I was shocked when the 2010 census came up with 473. We’re not even incorporated, just considered a community. But it is a spread out community. The houses used to be a quarter of a mile apart. They’re closer together now, but it’s still peaceful with room to roam.
A little over 24,000. About half way between our capital city which is also somewhat small and our states largest city. One of the things our town is most known for is an outlet mall on the edge of town, right off the freeway… If I mention the name of my town, most people who have heard of it say, “Oh yeah–where the out,et mall is located.” LOL
I guess there are worse things to be known for…
Now I live in Elk Rapids, which is technically the larges city I’ve ever lived in: 1,400!
Same as yours.
I have a winner! Mari won the drawing for Lisa Phillips’ book. I appreciate Karin for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.