The First Date


It was just another Saturday morning.  I was to meet a friend of a friend.  My expectation wasn't very high as I left my house in Vallejo early as I had done on any typical Saturday to visit my parents.  My day with my parents would be short as I simply checked in to say "hi", briefed them as to what my plans were, and headed off to Daly City.  I'm fairly certain it was after lunch as I don't recall eating lunch during the date.

Nina and Michael lived in a Serra Heights condo just down the block from Nina's workplace, Seton Medical Center.  I arrived early.  I was greeted by two overly anxious friends who seemed  eager for the meeting.  After watching a few MTV videos, I would soon learn why.

Fifteen years had passed when the last angel caught my eye, but I was but a kid then.  Now fifteen years later I knew the angel I saw walking into the room would be the one I'd spend the rest of my life with.  She would be my soulmate.  Apparently she felt the same way too as we never took our eyes away from each other throughout the rest of the day and into the night.

I was introduced to Marlene, an angel with a killer smile.  After intros, we would exchange pleasantries while watching a few music videos on MTV.   She remembers that one music video that caught her eye had a cowboy in a tub of beans, but looking back it had to be a mix of "Mexican Radio" and "I Want to Be Your Cowboy". 

Nina and Michael became our official chaperones for the duration of the day and into the night.  First stop was to explore Comics and DaKind.  We just happen to be in the area and it gave me a chance to show one of my passions...comic books.  Next stop took us all the way to Pier 39, a great place for a photo op like the one below.

        

Took us a while to come up with dinner plans, but we finally agreed to have pizza at the Pizzeria Uno on Lombard Street.  It was a rather long wait to get in, but once seated Nina and Michael ordered pizza and beer while Marlene and I ordered pizza and a pitcher of beer.....root beer.

I don't recall exactly how the night ended after dinner, but I'm fairly certain a hug and a peck on the check was part of it after escorting Marlene to her condo.  Our catchphrase became "it was meant to be".  Very appropriate for the entire day.  I could not wait to call her again.  And in the days and weeks that followed, that was exactly what happened.