The Funeral
So, March of 1993 came around. I ended up attending Topeka Bible Church (the church my friends attended). The singles group at the church had a couple of different Bible studies during the week and I decided it was time I start attending one. I had met another gal who was from Nebraska, so I decided to attend that one since there was somewhat of a connection. Well, who was leadng the Bible study? You guessed it, David Cleveland.
I was immediately attracted to him. Of course, he was not immediately attracted to me (I had to work really hard at that). But, there was some type of connection. We figured out that we worked in the same building, we exchanged phone numbers and we may have even had lunch at work in the first 3-4 weeks (I can't really remember for sure!).
However, the first time he asked me to come to his apartment, I was thrilled! Was it a date? Probably not - it was just 2 people spending a little time together to get to know each other. And besides, can you count watching a funeral on television a date? David is very into politics (thus the reason he went to school for Public Administration and has worked at either the state or local government level ever since he graduated). Me, I was relatively politically neutral at the time.
However, I jumped at the chance when he invited me over to watch Richard Nixon's funeral (how sad is that - sure a funeral is sad but that I would jump at the chance to watch one on television)? Unfortunately, it wasn't just the 2 of us. Another gal invited herself along. I believe she was a bit envious that David was paying more attention to me than her (that's another story!).
So, over the course of the next few months, we did spend a lot of time together. Mostly it was just hanging out at each others apartments, watching television (although we graduated to more fun things than a funeral), going to baseball games, having lunch, etc. David was very clear that we are JUST FRIENDS!! You see, he was engaged previously and she broke it off about a month before the wedding (a year or so before I came into the picture). He was still hopeful that she would come back into the picture and his heart was still committed to her.
So, I waited patiently. I assured him, that it was OK to be friends (although it really wasn't but I didn't feel that was something he needed to know at the time). Finally in October of 1994, he decided it was OK to officially date!
Of course I was thrilled. My friends (my boss and his wife) were out of town and I was picking up their mail. So, I left them a note that it was official (they knew every detail of what was going on!). Before I had a chance to actually talk to them, my boss (Ken) saw David and said congratulations on dating (I was slightly embarrased by that, but oh well!). I think David was a little taken aback and told Ken that he was regretting the decision and he was going to 'break up'. Now this was only about 48 hours after the decision. Ken told him to give it some time and fortunately David did.
There are a couple more slight detours in our relationship, but this post is long enough. So, I'll fill you in on 'the rest of the story' tomorrow!
I was immediately attracted to him. Of course, he was not immediately attracted to me (I had to work really hard at that). But, there was some type of connection. We figured out that we worked in the same building, we exchanged phone numbers and we may have even had lunch at work in the first 3-4 weeks (I can't really remember for sure!).
However, the first time he asked me to come to his apartment, I was thrilled! Was it a date? Probably not - it was just 2 people spending a little time together to get to know each other. And besides, can you count watching a funeral on television a date? David is very into politics (thus the reason he went to school for Public Administration and has worked at either the state or local government level ever since he graduated). Me, I was relatively politically neutral at the time.
However, I jumped at the chance when he invited me over to watch Richard Nixon's funeral (how sad is that - sure a funeral is sad but that I would jump at the chance to watch one on television)? Unfortunately, it wasn't just the 2 of us. Another gal invited herself along. I believe she was a bit envious that David was paying more attention to me than her (that's another story!).
So, over the course of the next few months, we did spend a lot of time together. Mostly it was just hanging out at each others apartments, watching television (although we graduated to more fun things than a funeral), going to baseball games, having lunch, etc. David was very clear that we are JUST FRIENDS!! You see, he was engaged previously and she broke it off about a month before the wedding (a year or so before I came into the picture). He was still hopeful that she would come back into the picture and his heart was still committed to her.
So, I waited patiently. I assured him, that it was OK to be friends (although it really wasn't but I didn't feel that was something he needed to know at the time). Finally in October of 1994, he decided it was OK to officially date!
Of course I was thrilled. My friends (my boss and his wife) were out of town and I was picking up their mail. So, I left them a note that it was official (they knew every detail of what was going on!). Before I had a chance to actually talk to them, my boss (Ken) saw David and said congratulations on dating (I was slightly embarrased by that, but oh well!). I think David was a little taken aback and told Ken that he was regretting the decision and he was going to 'break up'. Now this was only about 48 hours after the decision. Ken told him to give it some time and fortunately David did.
There are a couple more slight detours in our relationship, but this post is long enough. So, I'll fill you in on 'the rest of the story' tomorrow!
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