Our Second Date

In honor of our five-year wedding anniversary coming up on June 26, I’ve decided to write about some of the most significant, romantic, exciting times in the last eight years since Ed and I first met.

I finally got up the nerve to call Ed and ask him out for a second date.  Our first date had been months before, and I had never called him back.  I needed time to grow up and figure out who I was, who I wanted to be, and who I wanted to be with.   My parents really liked Ed and his family, and had known them for many years.  My cousin Aaron, who had gone to school with Ed, kept trying to make me realize how perfect Ed was for me.  But still, I wasn’t ready.

The months passed and I thought about what I was looking for in a partner.  I realized that Ed was so much like what I envisioned my future husband to be.  I wanted to call him, but I was so embarrassed that I just couldn’t work up the nerve. 

It was 2001, and I was a junior in college.  I had Fridays off of school, and Aunt Wendy called to invite me to lunch with her, Aunt Diane and my cousin Mark.  They all knew Ed because they lived in the same town, and Ed had been working with my Uncle Dave.  I’m not sure if they had the ulterior motive of getting me to call Ed, and though I don’t remember exactly what was said, I got the courage to make the call.

I didn’t need to find his number.  I had memorized it.  It’s one of those weird things about me, I tend to memorize numbers.  I rehearsed what I was going to say before I called him.  I was so nervous. 

“Hi, Ed.  It’s Abbie.  I wanted to apologize for not calling you back, and ask if I could take you out to dinner to make up for it.”  I said it to his voicemail.  I didn’t know it at the time, but Ed was in Maine with his family.  That night, my cousin Aaron drove me by Ed’s house so I could see where he lives.  I anxiously awaited his call back.

When Ed called back three days later, he acted as if I was lucky he was still single.  I could tell that I had hurt his feelings, and I felt really bad.  He agreed that I could take him out, and mentioned bringing a friend. 

I frantically called my friend Jessica.  I knew she wasn’t interested in a double date, but being a good friend, she agreed to come along with me.  She knew that Ed was a great guy and so she played along.  She even agreed to pick me up so that my family didn’t know I was going out with Ed.  I didn’t want to get their hopes up.

I remember getting ready to go out on that second date on November 30th.  I carefully applied my black eyeliner and mascara, squeezed into my very tight faded blue jeans, and put on my black top.  My hair was down and I flipped it from one side to the other.

Jessica picked me up and we met Ed and his friend Matt at Dairy Queen.  We rode in Ed’s truck, and Matt gave me the front seat.  I remember thinking that I hoped Ed wasn’t too mad at me.  I looked into his green eyes and smiled, so happy to be in that truck.

We went to a steak house for dinner.  Tall, dark and handsome was the perfect description for Ed.  We chatted through dinner, and I was so thankful to Jessica for coming along.  I paid for Ed’s dinner, as promised.  Then he wanted to go to the movies.  I said okay, but was worried because I was out of money.  I hoped he would pay.

Fortunately, Ed did buy the movie tickets.  We saw Shallow Hal and I laughed and laughed.  We held hands.  Later on, I caught him dozing off.

Ed dropped Jessica off at her car and drove me home.  It was late and I hoped my family was asleep.  The last thing I wanted was for my mom to come out with her camera and take our picture, which is something she would do.

We got out of the truck and Ed took a look at the apartment over the garage that my dad was building for me.  Fortunately, nobody came outside.  As we stood in the headlights of his truck, not wanting to say goodbye, I stood on my toes and gave him a soft, sweet kiss on the lips.  I went in the house and Ed drove out of the driveway.

We continued to see each other, and two weeks later I told Jessica that I was going to marry Ed one day.