I remember the day vividly. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and we had to get up early for a morning soccer game, in which our team walked away with the win. The air was brisk, and the sun was shining, it was a gorgeous fall day. I remember wanting to go to mill creek park to explore the trails, but I didn't want to go alone.
I got home to change and decided to text the guy I was casually talking to through Facebook dating. He had asked me out three other times, but I cancelled every time. I figured now's the perfect opportunity to "look" interested and have him cancel on me, right? I sent him a text that said, "I am going to mill creek for a walk if you want to meet". I was banking on him saying no, so I had left before waiting for his response. I get a mile down the road when my phone goes off, the response "sure what time". I remember saying "for real now I have to worry about him seeing me sweaty and out of breath". I replied, "leaving now and usually walk 3 miles". He said, "okay I'll see you there".
I got to the lily pond at least 15 min before he did. I remember sitting in my car spazzing out because this dude was cute and 100% my type. A million things were running through my head, and I was trying to calm myself down. I get another text that says, "I can't find the lily pond LOL". I tried sending him my location but couldn't figure out how, so I decided to call him. I asked him where he was and he said, "I don't even know", he tried describing it to me but for someone who doesn't frequent mill creek park, I was just as lost.
I decided to leave to lily pond and drive thru the park to find him, two minutes up the road I spotted his black dodge charger coming towards me. I told him to keep going towards the lily pond while I turned around to meet him there. This is it, Megan. There's no going back.
I parked two rows over from him and hesitated to get out. I gave myself a quick pep talk and said, "screw it I'm walking". I walked up to his car all energetic as if I have a bubbly personality. He steps out and he's wearing basketball shorts, black Nike dad shoes, and a shirt that says, "I'm always right". I said, "you ready fair warning I usually do 3 miles". He looked at me and said, "okay I like walking". The first few minutes were extremely awkward. He wouldn't make eye contact with me, and my mouth went a mile a minute.
After the first lap he started to get more comfortable as it was now his turn to talk, and the man didn't shut up. He talked during the first 10 laps; it was random talking with dead silence mixed in. It was still incredibly awkward and after lap 15 I said, "okay I'm done". Part of me ended it because he didn't seem interested, and I certainly wasn't going to continue to walk and be awkward. He seemed kind of bummed but at this point I was over it and wanted to go home. We walked to the car, and I said "okay thankss byeee". He said, "okay bye", and we went our separate ways.
I drove home and already had it imbedded in my brain that I wouldn't hear from him. My first impression of him, "he's cute and dorky with a great smile". Oh well, it's not the first man who wasn't interested. I jumped in the shower and just as I was throwing my pjs on (at 5 O'clock in the afternoon), I got a text that said, "dinner plans tonight"? My response "are you serious"? He replied, "unless you don't want to go". I was ecstatic and replied "dude, I didn't think you were interested". He said, "LOL I haven't dated in 25 years".
I met him later that night at Dennys (MY choice). I wanted some closet and quiet. We talked till 1am about anything and everything. I, being the 90-year-old woman I am was getting tired. I asked if he was ready, and he walked me to my car. We talked a little longer in the parking lot and he said, "I really want to kiss you but don't know if that's appropriate or not". I offered a high five and he went in for the kiss. I was star struck ever since.
The first three months were wild. We talked almost every day and made a point to meet weekly. We'd go to the lily pond often for walks or diners at night for conversation. He filled me in on the chaotic events of his life, and I stayed humble about mine. I'm not sure I was expecting it to go anywhere, I mean I liked him...A LOT, but like every relationship Megan gets into, she often sabotages it by being a total moron! I kind of just went in having fun.
So many things have transpired during the first 6 months. He became a grandpa and found out his wife (whom he was in the middle of a divorce from when we first met) was having an affair months prior to the divorce being filed. The guy always said he must have been a bad guy in his past life to have reoccurring bad luck, but I always tried to convince him of the positives.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to convince someone how amazing life is when one bad thing happens right after another. No joke, at one point I ended up telling him "I see it now and you legit have a black cloud that follows you". It made no sense to me as he was the most genuine and honest man I've ever been with. He was gentle, sincere, kind, and dorky. I could tell he was easily manipulated and taken advantage of in the past, so I refused to do the same (not that I'm that type of person).
The amount of trauma he experienced just in the three months that I was talking to him was mind blowing. No joke, I wouldn't have believed it either if I didn't witness it myself. The mental, emotional, and physical abuse he endured from his family was revolting. The stories I'd hear made me question why he stayed for years, when it was obvious certain people only cared about materialistic things. With him being the provider, I'm sure it was hard to walk away from.
All I could do was comfort him, love him, and ease whatever burden he was dealing with in that moment. It was fun for a while, until........................
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