Meeting Calvin

I have shared this story over the years and usually get a laugh from those who listen...

During my senior year in high school I worked for a local convenience store. After working there for a few months I began to notice one customer in particular, even held out hope that he would ask me out. He had a head of thick dark blond hair, just long enough to curl and drove an old beat up white pick up truck. I was disappointed that he never asked me out and he quit coming in to the store. 

Shortly after this another guy started coming in on a regular basis. He was a character with short light brown hair and a full beard. Picture a young Duck Dynasty look-a-like. This guy asked me out on a regular basis, but I was not the least bit interested. I don't particularly care for the mountain man beard style. A neatly trimmed beard or goatee I find attractive, but as much as I like Duck Dynasty, I don't like their beard fashion. This Duck Dynasty look-a-like drove a maroon car that I can picture to this day. I liked the car, but eventually this guy quit coming into the store too.

Then along comes Calvin, but I didn't learn his name for awhile. He was clean cut, had short brown hair and a mustache. He came in regularly with a friend of his. They were both EMTs. I only knew that because of the uniform they wore when on call. Calvin's regular purchase was a bottle of RC cola and eventually he began to ask me out. What I didn't know at that time was that Calvin had a girlfriend. What he didn't know was that his girlfriend and I knew each other very well. She had been one of my closest friends for years, but during our senior year of high school we weren't spending much time together. I knew she had a boyfriend, but I hadn't met him...yet!

On rare occasion my friend, by the way, her name is Jerri, and I still both showed up on Sunday morning for church and we still sat together when we were both there. I was sitting in the usual spot when in comes Calvin, with my friend. Yep, that's how I found out he was her boyfriend. Surprise, surprise!  A few weeks followed and Jerri broke up with Calvin. The break up had nothing to do with me, but that's another story.  I guess Calvin was a little chicken at this point because he didn't ask me out, instead he asked out another friend of mine, Debbie. Let me add at this point that Jerri, Debbie, and I were sharing an apartment.

Calvin and Debbie had only one date. Thankfully she had her eye on someone else. Calvin never did really ask me out for a date. Somehow we became a couple within our circle of friends. If my memory serves me right, Jerri was encouraging us to get together, and once Calvin and I were together, we were together! We married just six weeks later!!

Now the fun part of the story...After Calvin and I married we moved to Alice, Texas for a short period of time. We hadn't been married long when I was going through some of Calvin's things that he had packed in boxes and I came across a shirt that I recognized. I carried it out to where Calvin was sitting and asked "this is your shirt?" When he said yes I was dumbfounded. I still remember that old tattered t-shirt. It was worn quite frequently by the customer that I had hoped would ask me out on a date. You remember, the one with the thick, dark blond hair, just long enough to curl. Calvin was working out in the sun and his hair was sun-bleached when he was first noticed by me. Hmmm...he never did ask me out!

Several months into our marriage Calvin and I were at his parents' house when a comment was made about Calvin having a beard. I was quick to speak up and say "I've never seen Calvin with a beard."  Calvin quickly corrected me and said that I had, but I was sure he was wrong, until his sister pulled out a picture to show me. Looking at me from a photo was the Duck Dynasty look-a-like guy who drove the maroon car! I was shocked to say the least and had never put the three together as one in the same, Calvin by name.

Strange I know, but all very true.