courtship. There will be times along this journey I'm reminded of an interesting event. It may be one of the delightfully funny stories. Possibly a sad one. One that I feel deserves to be shared. Even though it may be out of sequence. This particular memory fits in the 'funny' category. Remembering triggered smiles. And laughter.
This is Gina. . .Correction.
It would be a picture of her if I weren't fearful of frightful retaliation.
You see, she is one of those women who think all her pictures are bad. Unless possibly her Senior picture.
Which is very pretty. While I don't agree with her, I have chosen to respect her wishes. At least this time.
Perhaps I can locate somewhere a photo of her taken at the Tulsa State Fair a few years ago. Maybe she wouldn't mind me posting that one of her in a future blog. For now, this is the best I can do.
My dear friend of many years. Who soon became a friend to Odell, as well.
It was a Sunday evening as we were leaving church that I reminded him I sure wanted him to meet Gina. We had been so busy just being together. Just falling in love. And it was past time for 'show and tell.' I was so proud of my amazing guy. I leaned closer to him. 'Honey, I think I know where Gina might be tonight. I think she's playing at Catoosa. Would you want to drive out there and surprise her?' He just shrugged, turning his head to grin at me. 'I don't care, honey. Whatever you want to do.' Seriously. Even this early in our relationship, I knew this sweet guy had wrapped himself around my heart. We continued driving east. On our way to 'catch my friend' playing Bingo on a Sunday. I figured she might be
on the receiving end of one of my little mini sermons. Not really. It wasn't up to me to
judge her. I just wanted to show off my guy.
I spotted Gina as soon as we stepped inside. She wasn't alone. Sitting beside her was Connie, her 'partner in crime.' (smile). I discreetly pointed her out to Odell. The one with 300 Bingo cards.
He told me he wanted to have a little fun 'introducing himself' while I sneaked over to the concession to get us a coke. This was just so him. I loved the way he loved life. And loved to laugh. And make others laugh with him.
Being quite a distance from Odell and his 'meeting,' I wasn't able to hear anything that was said. What I did observe from my position at the soda fountain was enough to know we had been found out! Connie was pointing in my direction. No need to stay back in the shadows at that point. When I approached their table, they were all laughing. Not loudly, of course. That's not something you do during Bingo. One of the rules. And one you hear over and over while playing, 'Please keep the noise level down to a mininum so as not to disturb the players.' Which would have been everyone in the room. With the exception of two 'innocent bystanders' disrupting the natural quiet flow of the evening. It was a few minutes before I heard the story. During a break.
I learned that Odell had quietly walked up to the end of the table where Gina was busily daubing the numbers on all the bingo sheets I mentioned earlier. She was oblivious of his presence as he squatted down beside her. When he spoke, she nearly fell out of her chair. He then proceeded to ask her 'what do you do with all those things?' Referring to her 75 Bingo daubers of 75 different colors.
Okay. Slight exaggeration. Poor Gina! He had her so flustered she was having trouble keeping up. She tried to tell him what you use the daubers for. She was thinking this guy must be some ole truck driver 'hitting on her.'
He calmly proceeded to ask more 'dumb' questions. He wanted her to show him how to play Bingo. She said she was just about to flag down one of the floor clerks to have him hauled away, when Connie saw me at the Concession. She nudged Gina 'hey, there's Barbara!' It was at that second it dawned on Gina that this annoying 'truck driver' wasn't a truck driver, after all. 'You're ODELL!'
It was a fun trip back to Tulsa. Once my friend had figured out it was Odell and he wasn't actually coming on to her, she visibly relaxed. She was laughing and shaking her head over the joke. Little did she know at that time that this was only the beginning. She had no clue as to how ornery Odell could be.
Yes. It had certainly been a good evening. Preaching. Singing. Fellowship.
And jokes. Always jokes.
Odell met Gina. More importantly, Gina met my guy.
And it was quite apparent to this girl that she was quite impressed! And happy for her friend.
But no one was happier than we were.
I snuggled as closely as possible with those annoying 'bucket seats.' I attempted laying my head on his shoulder. Not the easiest thing to do. When it came to snuggling, the ole 'bench seats' were the best!
Oh, well. I could always stare at his profile. I loved watching him while he was driving. And I knew in
a few seconds, he would turn slightly to smile and kiss me quickly. All the while managing to keep
one eye on the road.
Was it even possible
to keep falling more in love...
Awww....very, very sweet!!
ReplyDeleteLove all the colorful clip art!
:)