POST 29: "Ready To Take a Chance Again"
MY 'GAME SHOW HOST' FORREST, WITH POODLE, MICHELLE.
OUR FRIEND NAN, THE MATCHMAKER
“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand” Mother Teresa
After nursing me for about two years after my divorce, another member of the three angels, Nan, took matters into her own hands and encouraged me to try on-line dating sites. It was time to get back into circulation. How else was I, a minister with two children, going to meet eligible partners? She encouraged me to try the internet. After some trepidation I looked around and decided upon the site called e-Harmony. Besides it had an after-Christmas discount.
Right before Holy Week I received notice of a “match,” someone who was a former Roman Catholic priest and social worker, striving to return to ministry. We followed e-Harmony’s protocol and eventually made it to free conversation. Then we arranged a meeting. I hesitate to say “date.” We met at the Hungarian Pastry Shop on Amsterdam Avenue, surrounded by graduate students reading Faust, a cat patrolling the premises, while we chatted lightly over coffee. Afterwards I ran to Nan and wailed: “He smiles like a game show host!”
Nan, with supreme confidence, said, “It’s just nerves. What do you have to lose? See him again.” So I agreed. One step at a time. I remembered my compulsion to rip and destroy so instead I sat on my hands, took a deep breath, and prayed my favorite prayer, “Help, God. Please don’t let me fuck this up.”
So Forrest and I continued to meet. I remember the moment when I knew Forrest was the man I wanted to marry. It wasn’t just the romantic dinners. It wasn’t the long phone calls or emails that revealed common interests. It was the day he finally met my children, Andrew and Hannah, over breakfast at a local Broadway diner. Hannah ignored him and would do her best to do so for at least ten more years. However 11-year-old Andrew immediately started telling Forrest about his favorite video game, Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Conker’s is one of those dark, naughty video games about squirrels and teddies with sewer language, potty humor, and irredeemable habits who are engaged in battles with each other.
Looking back, I can't believe I let him play this game. However,
as Andrew described the game in detail, I noticed how intently Forrest listened to him, as if he were discussing an exegesis paper on the Beatitudes of Jesus. Even a 11-year-old-boy has a need to belong, just like a lost, derelict squirrel trying to get to the top level where home is, and has to overcome the multitudes of obstacles in front of him.
It was as if just Andrew and Forrest were the only ones in the diner as they discussed Conker’s battle tactics. I saw it. It was clear as day. This is how love truly is, how we are redeemed. In true conversation where it is safe for the demons and idols to be exposed and removed, with love.
I was ready to take a chance again.
Notes:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/838305.Mother_Teresa?page=3
Give the gift of music to the next generation through donations to:
The Manilow Music Project
8295 South La Cienega Boulevard
Inglewood, CA 90301
info@manilowmusicproject.org
Click here to go to the next post or click here to return to the previous post.
After nursing me for about two years after my divorce, another member of the three angels, Nan, took matters into her own hands and encouraged me to try on-line dating sites. It was time to get back into circulation. How else was I, a minister with two children, going to meet eligible partners? She encouraged me to try the internet. After some trepidation I looked around and decided upon the site called e-Harmony. Besides it had an after-Christmas discount.
Right before Holy Week I received notice of a “match,” someone who was a former Roman Catholic priest and social worker, striving to return to ministry. We followed e-Harmony’s protocol and eventually made it to free conversation. Then we arranged a meeting. I hesitate to say “date.” We met at the Hungarian Pastry Shop on Amsterdam Avenue, surrounded by graduate students reading Faust, a cat patrolling the premises, while we chatted lightly over coffee. Afterwards I ran to Nan and wailed: “He smiles like a game show host!”
Nan, with supreme confidence, said, “It’s just nerves. What do you have to lose? See him again.” So I agreed. One step at a time. I remembered my compulsion to rip and destroy so instead I sat on my hands, took a deep breath, and prayed my favorite prayer, “Help, God. Please don’t let me fuck this up.”
So Forrest and I continued to meet. I remember the moment when I knew Forrest was the man I wanted to marry. It wasn’t just the romantic dinners. It wasn’t the long phone calls or emails that revealed common interests. It was the day he finally met my children, Andrew and Hannah, over breakfast at a local Broadway diner. Hannah ignored him and would do her best to do so for at least ten more years. However 11-year-old Andrew immediately started telling Forrest about his favorite video game, Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Conker’s is one of those dark, naughty video games about squirrels and teddies with sewer language, potty humor, and irredeemable habits who are engaged in battles with each other.
Looking back, I can't believe I let him play this game. However,
as Andrew described the game in detail, I noticed how intently Forrest listened to him, as if he were discussing an exegesis paper on the Beatitudes of Jesus. Even a 11-year-old-boy has a need to belong, just like a lost, derelict squirrel trying to get to the top level where home is, and has to overcome the multitudes of obstacles in front of him.
It was as if just Andrew and Forrest were the only ones in the diner as they discussed Conker’s battle tactics. I saw it. It was clear as day. This is how love truly is, how we are redeemed. In true conversation where it is safe for the demons and idols to be exposed and removed, with love.
I was ready to take a chance again.
Notes:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/838305.Mother_Teresa?page=3
Give the gift of music to the next generation through donations to:
The Manilow Music Project
8295 South La Cienega Boulevard
Inglewood, CA 90301
info@manilowmusicproject.org
Click here to go to the next post or click here to return to the previous post.
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