Bruce and Beth's Sealing March 30, 2012

COUNTDOWN CLOCK

Las Vegas

A few days later we moved right into a 90th birthday party for my dad. Bruce and his son, Stephen, and his wife, Lisa, helped a lot. Stephen made a video of my dad's life & family and Bruce projected it on his huge screen. Stephen and Lisa helped serve the food, too. Linda came to help with the food and was moral support for me. Bruce met a LOT of my family. The party was a success and my family loved Bruce. Then we headed off to the Las Vegas LDS Singles Conference (for some reason, Bruce didn't want me to go alone). We picked up Michele (who was falling in love, too) and rented a huge house with a bunch of singles. Unfortunately, I got sick and missed some of the conference and one dance. Bruce was a great nurse. He took care of me so lovingly :-) I did make it to some classes, the Hillary Weeks concert, and the last dance. I wore THE red dress with a sparkly black shrug and Bruce wore a black shirt with a red tie (he looked fabulous). We were together every day and we decided that we didn't like saying goodbye, so we moved up the wedding to March 30 as long as all our kids could attend...and they could! My son said that he was just waiting for me to call and say, "Come tomorrow--we're getting married!" (At least we didn't do that. We gave everyone 5 weeks notice.)

Engagement Cont.

Bruce liked my transformation as I changed into the red dress.  (I guess not wearing the blue ankle socks did the trick!) We walked by some quaint stores and went to a french restaurant by the river.  They sat us in a cozy room by a window and we watched a beautiful sunset while eating an amazing dinner.  Afterwards we drove back to my house and talked for awhile--well, we mostly  talked and he went home ending a most wonderful Valentines Day and Engagement Day all wrapped into one! We planned for a June 30th wedding.  All was set for us to start the planning, etc., but I think that things were going to change again...

The REAL Engagement Lowdown

OK, so I read his post and I need to clarify a few things.  WE  decided that we would have our first kiss in a romantic spot so when he picked me up on Tuesday morning and he tried to kiss me the first thing  I barely resisted him and turned my head. My porch wasn't a very romantic spot in my mind. Napa sounded better! After I had a make-over in Macy's, we drove to Napa and had lunch all to ourselves in a romantic restaurant in the Sterling Suites.  Then Bruce went to get his wallet which he left in the car. Really? The waiter teased me about that one. And when he came back he looked all sheepish and said that we needed to leave and find a new 'romantic spot'.  Well, he didn't describe the 'pond' very well. The problem was that there was a statue in the middle of the pond--and what kind of statue wouldn't be very romantic for a proposal situation? How about a naked little boy, uh, going to the bathroom, into the pond? haha! So, he found another hotel with a romantic spot in a beautiful quad area and we sat by a brick wall with music and a waterfall and we talked for a little while. He took a big sigh and asked if I  was ready and he knelt down, said some romantic things (too bad--you don't get to know them), and proposed to me. I, of course, said 'yes'!  He apologized that he didn't have a ring. (He had just gotten back into town the day before--and when he left he had NO IDEA that he was going to propose to me when he got back.  Isn't that amazing?)  So we had our first kiss! After we were engaged! (Thankfully, our first kiss wasn't at our wedding!)

Part I – The Engagement

Valentine’s Day – February 14, 2012 – was the perfect day! First we went to Macy’s where she received a make-over and I bought her some Estee Lauder makeup. I also bought her a long sweater with a fur collar that she could wear with the Red dress I had bought her the week before (hey guys – buying nice things for the girls does work!) After leaving Macy’s we drove to the Sterling Suites in Napa and had a lunch all to ourselves in their Mediterranean restaurant. I had left my wallet in the car so I excused myself from the table and left Beth to explain to the waiter – who thought I was pretty smart leaving the girl that way to pick up the tab. On my way to the car I walked over to the area in the inner courtyard gardens where I had decided to propose. To my surprise, the gazebo I remember that had been there was gone and had been replaced by a small pond. What had once been a very romantic spot was now bare and open. I was bewildered – where was I going to ask Beth to marry me now?

I went and retrieved Beth from the restaurant and we just started driving. I wondered if the only alternative was to pull off on the side of the road and propose there. Luckily we came to a small park in Yountville that wasn’t too crowded with people. We found a private corner that was covered, had steps next to a small brick wall, piped in music and a fountain. After talking for what seemed like a very long time, I sheepishly knelt on the steps and asked Beth if she would marry me. After which she put her arms around me, said yes and we had our first kiss (as I had dreamed - I was the one who broke her kissing drought).

After we talked for a while, we went back to the Sterling Suites and changed into our night-out-on-the-town clothes. I was waiting outside the dressing room door when Beth stepped out in her new red dress. I had to exclaim “Wow!!!!” She was the most beautiful I had ever seen her and my heart skipped a few beats. From there we went to a wonderful French restaurant on the Napa River, had a luscious dinner and watched the sun go down over the river. After dinner we drove back to Beth’s house. For all purposes, the day had been perfect! I had received the courage to ask - and she had willingly accepted my proposal. My dreams had come true – we would be husband and wife – in love forever.

Falling deeply in love

Bruce was gone and I was miserable. Something happened to me while he was gone. I knew that I loved Bruce more than I could even describe. What happened? I was overwhelmed with my feelings. We emailed and talked and Bruce said that his family teased him. We felt like teenagers again! What was sleep? I woke up many times a night. I couldn't sleep. All I could do was think about him. And why was he gone for 5 years? When was he coming back to me? As the 5 days progressed, he told me that the romantic Valentines Day that he had planned was turning into something else--something life changing. Bruce was talking about getting married next year. He said, "Let's take a lot of time in each stage," and I said, "We'll see..." because I thought that 'next year' seemed like a million years away. He didn't hear me. Then later he told me the 'we'll see' story of him waking up and really HEARING what I said. haha! So his 'next year' marriage talk turned into June. And he 'interviewed' me about what I was feeling and what I would say if he--and I don't remember how it was worded, but he didn't say 'marry me' but used other wording--and I told him that I didn't know everything about him, but that Heavenly Father did and He wanted me to marry him (Bruce) and that was good enough for me. That must have been good enough because look at where we are today! We're getting married tomorrow!

It's Turning Serious...

Bruce came over the next day after the dance and we talked. He 'put his foot down' and said that he wasn't going to date anyone else but me. That was flattering. I didn't want to date anyone else either. Wow, that happened quickly. Then we met on Monday for our Family History date and Bruce had everything all ready for me. He'd bought pens, markers, files, boxes, paper, binders, everything to help me get my genealogy organized. That was so thoughtful of him. Then he told me about his intentions: he was dating me to eventually marry me if it all worked out. It was a very special moment between us. He said that he wasn't proposing but, come on, he was! He wanted to marry me. Wow, it WAS happening quickly. And the surprising thing was that I liked the idea! When I left I was in heaven. I needed gas for my car, so as I talked to the attendant, I told him that I was engaged (I could tell a stranger couldn't I? I figured that everything would go fine and that we would eventually be formally engaged. I felt engaged.) and I'd like to buy him a candy bar, but he didn't want one! I offered to buy him a drink or chips or gum or mints or an icee, but NO! He didn't want anything. Fine. I'll just celebrate it myself so I was bouncing around like a crazy person...oh wait...that's what I do anyway. Well, I was pretty excited. Then Bruce and I went out on Tues and he bought me a red dress. I modeled a bunch of dresses (that was a little uncomfortable for me, but he sure looked like he enjoyed the activity--haha!), and I'd always wanted a red one and this one was a doozy. The effect was a little offset by my blue ankle socks, but, whatever! He was leaving the next day for Arizona and it felt awful to say good-bye. It was a hard time to be separated. He eased the pain by romantically arranging for someone to deliver something for me when I got home from work the next day. I just had to call a certain number. So, I did and the person who answered said, "Kentucky Fried Chicken, may I help you?" What? I was confused. "Uh," I said, "I was given this number, um..." and then the guy on the other end started laughing. It was Bruce's son giving me a hard time. Oh, yes, he's going to get his. I told him to keep looking over his shoulder for it. Now I just need to think of something...Later he delivered a dozen chocolate covered strawberries. I gave him something to give Bruce when he got back. I like to give presents, too! The 5 day trip felt like 5 years. What was happening to me?

Part H – “FAST” is the only word I have for what happened next!

Saturday morning after the dance I went over to Beth’s house and talked with her for a while. I found out she had gotten jealous of me dancing with the other women and decided she wanted me and didn’t want to share me with any other women. In fact, she complained about how close I was dancing with the other women. We scheduled another movie date for the following Monday evening and also a full day together on Tuesday February 7. On the 7^th we went out for an early lunch and then went shopping for a red dress she could wear on Valentine’s day. She had always wanted a red dress but had never bought one. We found a lovely red dress and bought it. Saying good bye this time was extremely hard because the next day (February 8) I was leaving for Arizona for six days. Ever since that good bye, each good bye has become harder and harder to say.

I missed Beth terribly the whole time I was in Arizona and she missed me too! We would email each other during the day and would talk for hours at night. It was during this time of separation that our feelings changed from affection for each other to love. It became clear to me that marriage was becoming a very real possibility. So I started talking to my Arizona kids about their schedules and when would be a good time for me to get married. Although they were shocked at the thought of me getting married, they were all supportive and encouraged me. My initial thoughts were that a December wedding would be good.

If I was going to ask Beth to marry me on Valentine’s Day I needed to find out before hand if she would say yes. So I called her from Arizona and asked her some direct questions to try and determine whether she was ready to get engaged. I quickly determined that she was and mentioned the possibility of a December wedding to which she replied “We’ll see.” I thought nothing of the comment and went to bed a happy man knowing that the woman I loved, was in love with me too. Then all of a sudden at 3:00am I awakened with the words running through my mind “We’ll see.” I realized she hadn’t agreed to the December wedding idea and I knew it was going to be much sooner! I couldn’t sleep any more that night with the realization that I would be married soon! I haven’t been able to get a decent night’s sleep since. So with the help of my Arizona children I decided a June 30 wedding would be perfect. Little did I know that June 30 would be too far out also. I never imagined that it could happen as soon as March 30 (like it is).

THE Fireside and THE Dance That Changed Everything

I went to a church fireside on Jan 29 and they had two recently married couples that had “graduated” from the sinlges program. They told us to 'throw away our list'. If you are single, you know what I mean. The only thing that should be on it was the 'churchy stuff''. I had some things on my list that Bruce did or didn't have. It made me think twice. Throw away the list. Go forth on faith and let the rest work itself out. I must admit that I still had one thing on my list... the man I married must cherish me—every day, if possible—and that I would work every day to earn that love. So, when I saw Bruce next, I was looking at him in a new light. The list was gone. It happened to be the singles dance on Feb 3. The other two women that he was seeing were there and he danced with them and didn't pay a lot of attention to me. I was dancing with others, but kept my eye on him the whole time. We didn't sit together or anything. I wondered if someone else was going to ask me out on Valentines Day because I had started dating in January. No one had asked me out for over a year and now I was getting a bunch of dates. (I felt that Heavenly Father wanted me to date others, too.) So I was worried that I would be busy when Bruce finally asked me. Plus, I was thinking of giving a party that night. You know, with a black decorations or something funny. So during a slow song, I asked him if he was going to ask me out on Valentines Day. That was very embarrassing, but he was dancing with those other women a lot. And did you know, he was dancing VERY CLOSELY with them. My goodness! He didn't hold me that closely. Why was he? Did he like them better than me? Etc., etc. Then I said to myself, “Oh no! I'm in trouble! I LIKE this guy. A LOT!” I was relieved when he said that he wanted to go out with me on Valentines Day. Phew! Then I asked him if he would save the last dance for me (it's always a slow one). Another embarrassing moment, but I wanted to dance with him and only him during the last dance. When they announced the last dance I watched him thank his partner and walk over to me. OK, so he did want to dance with me. That dance was whole new experience. The music stopped and we still kept dancing while others were putting away the tables and chairs, etc, but he stopped. I would've kept dancing. Here was a wonderful man who seemed to WANT to cherish me. I still hadn't found anything wrong with him. Was there anything? There had to be. He wasn't translated yet. Haha!

Part G “Date Other Women!” She Says

Following the second date, I did as she had told me and dated other women. In fact, at the single adult dance on February 3, Beth and two of the other women I was dating showed up at the dance. I had lots of fun at the dance and tried to dance equally with all of them. During one of the slow songs when I was dancing with Beth, she asked me if I was going to ask her out on Valentine’s day. She and some of the other single adults were considering whether to have a Valentine’s day party she said. She needed to know if I intended on taking her out on Valentine’s Day before she could let the others know whether she would help sponsor the single’s valentine party. Of course I said “Yes. Let’s go out on Valentine’s Day.” My dreams had come true – Beth wanted to be with me and not the other men or the singles on Valentine’s Day. I could tell this was the beginning of something big. But little did I know that night, just how big it was going to be!

In the Meantime

Bruce overwhelmed me with a six month list of activities to do together—with others or alone. I liked him, but I didn't want to commit to so much so quickly. (I know—you are laughing!) So I told him the things that I'd like to invite others along and the few things that I thought that we could do together alone. Of course, one of them was going to the musical 'Wicked'. It was for June! Haha! He wanted us to go to Disneyland. That is an 8 hour drive. What are we supposed to talk about for 8 hours? And what if he drove me crazy? Haha! So, I told him that others had to go and that we also had to take turns in the front seat with him. He didn't like that very much. It was flattering, but Bruce is a widower who hadn't asked anyone out but me. How did he know what was out there and if I was what he wanted without dating others? Isn't that what we tell our kids? So I asked him to date other women. That it would make me feel more comfortable. I didn't care what other guys thought. If they're scared off that easily, who wants them? And I don't remember 'making it very plain'. And I told him that there were a few people that I wanted to date, just to see. Little did I know that that desire would evaporate VERY quickly!

The Best Second Date Ever….continued

I’d like to add a couple of comments to Beth’s version of the second date. If I was a “shoe-in” after the second date, Beth didn’t let on to it. Over the next month of activities and dates she always kept me dangling regarding her true interest in me. Each day seemed to be one of those “she loves me” – “she loves me not” days. Beth left out a very important part of the second date – before dinner we discussed our dating relationship and what was expected of me. I had previously provided a list of dates/activities that we and some of the single adults could do. But Beth was always noncommittal about the dates/activities and I could sense a concern in her for what others would think (I mean what other guys would think and if our dating would affect whether the guys would ask her out). During our conversation she said there were two or three men she wanted to get to know (date). She also made it very plain that she expected me to date other women if I was going to date her.

The Best Second Date Ever

Bruce was pretty much out of commission for awhile because he was very busy with family surrounding the wedding of his son on Jan 14. I was able to attend this and the luncheon afterwards, but not the reception. That was too bad because I missed the opportunity to get to know his family better, but I had to chair a dance in Roseville and needed to be there. If I had known then what I know now, I would've delegated the dance responsibilities. Oh, well, if wishes were horses...(don't you know that one? look it up, if not! haha!) Then Bruce and I had our second date. He fixed dinner and showed me a movie on his super-duper projector screen. He sure lucked out on that one if he didn't know ahead of time about my weakness for 'super-duper' movie effects. He said that he always sat in this certain chair so I plopped myself down on the couch and enjoyed myself immensely. OK, ladies, this guy cooks dinner, shows me a movie from a projector on a huge screen, offers ice cream for dessert, AND is charmingly funny? He was a shoe-in. I couldn't believe the difference between date #1 and date #2. That shows you to try a second date to see how it goes because, usually, the first date is a nervous endeavor. And that wasn't even the Family History date! I didn't want to leave, but the drive home was over an hour long with the first part being down an unknown mountain freeway so I headed out early. Even though Bruce tried to get out of it, we scheduled the Family History 'Date' for the next Monday. Why is this guy always trying to cancel our dates? BTW, the dates were on Mondays because that's one of the days that I worked in Placerville. Remember the 'Miracle Job' that I got in Placerville? Well, Placerville is 10-15 minutes from Bruce's place. Isn't that convenient? Isn't it amazing that Heavenly Father blesses us in ways that we don't even know about?

The First Date

Here's a quote from Bruce's email on Dec 28, "It seems like you have been gone a very long time." I had been gone for 11 days. In an email, Bruce asked me to go to the temple and to dinner afterwards, but he canceled. He was sick. Then he asked for the following week. Then he canceled again. What did that mean? So, I asked to meet him and discuss a confusing email that he sent me. (How was that idea?) So we went out to a late lunch on our first date. Our first date. How did it go? It went ok. It was a little uncomfortable. I hadn't seen him in over 3 weeks and now we were dating, and not just friends. I hadn't told him about Sarah, yet, so I thought that if we were dating that he should know that I have a daughter and not just two sons. That's an important part of my life that I don't share with everyone. She lives in heaven, now, and people get a little uncomfortable with it. His response was very sweet. And he sent me a very sweet email later. I guess it went better than I thought! Earlier, I had mentioned that it was time for me to work on my genealogy, again, so he picked up on that and invited me to work on it with him at his place or somewhere else if I was uncomfortable with that. haha! So, now, I was looking forward to the second date. Well, I was going to get some genealogy done, and lessening guilt is always a good idea for a second date!

The beginning of us.

First of all, I must clarify some things that Bruce said in his "chocolates" post. HIS family joined the church when he was 7 and MY family joined the church when I was 14 and I STILL did not acquire a taste for coffee. He was 7? haha! Plus, I did NOT give him that Christmas present of coffee candies to embarrass him. I gave him a present that I knew he would like...and to tease him about the "kisses". And, did you notice, he threw it away! My first gift to him. Just make note of that fact. I did not throw away his first gift to me!!! I kept the rose that he gave me from the concert. I still have it. It is a wonderful reminder of that night. And to clarify, I did not eat the 100's of 'half-eaten chocolates'. I cut out a piece of each one with a spoon. (I did save those pieces; however, to eat at my leisure.) That way others could eat the chocolates without danger of my germs. Bruce is the only one who gets to 'put up with' those. ;-)

During Christmas I was in Orange County, where I had lived for 30 years until I moved up north almost 2 years ago. I was visiting my sons, family, and friends. I had a wonderful time. I was gone almost 3 weeks. I went out on another set-up date and went to the huge New Year's Dance. And BTW Bruce said in an email for me to hand out boxes of half-eaten chocolates to guys--that they would like that. He actually gave me permission! That doesn't sound like he's wooing me, does it? So, I did! (No, I didn't.) And I didn't get a kiss at the stroke of midnight. The drought was still on! At least I was a winner at something! Bruce emailed me, called me, and sent me 3 presents for Christmas while I was gone. Pretty nice. This Bruce guy is stepping up to the plate all right. What do I do now? I called him occasionally and emailed him almost daily. It felt weird when there wasn't an email from him. I began to look forward to his emails...

Part F – The Chocolate(s)

This story begins back on December 6 when a bunch of us singles went to San Francisco to see the Christmas tree lights and the Oakland Temple lights. There were 2 guys (I drove and we picked another guy up in Vacaville – Beth’s date) and three girls (including Beth). On the way back to Roseville after we dropped Beth’s date off, the girls starting talking about the upcoming New Year’s midnight activities (kiss vs. handshake). I listened with great interest as they talked. Eventually they started comparing how long it had been since they each had been kissed. Beth won the prize with a kissing drought of seven and a half years. I quietly put that fact in the back of my mind.

Move ahead one week to December 13 when we left for the David Archuleta concert. I had bought long stem roses and a box of See’s chocolates for the front seat and the backseat. As we were driving to the concert the girls decided to eat one of the chocolates. Beth took a bite out of hers and exclaimed “Oh no, coffee flavor!” My parents didn’t join the church until I was 7 therefore in my early childhood years I had acquired a taste for coffee. I said to Beth “I’ll eat it.” She gave it to me and I ate it. Then I remembered back to the kissing conversation the week before and said to Beth “Well, I guess now that I have eaten a chocolate you took a bite out of, I can safely give you a kiss on New Year’s” We all laughed about it and I thought we had forgotten about it.

Move ahead to Friday December 16 at a Christmas party for the Roseville singles, which included Beth and me (and the other guy she wanted to know better – Boo!). Just before the party ended and with the intent to embarrass me, Beth walked over and handed me a small wrapped Christmas present. On opening it I discovered a box of coffee flavored chocolates. I tried in vain to explain away my liking the taste of coffee. As planned, she had embarrassed me. As it turned out, she and the other guy didn’t start dating so I was able to talk to her while she was in Southern California during the Christmas holidays. I put the box of coffee chocolates in my room and looked at them everyday wondering (and hoping) if they had bites taken out of them. Finally I asked Beth if she had taken bites out of them and to my disappointment she said “No.” I never did open the box of chocolates and eventually threw them out and forgot about them.

Move ahead to Tuesday, February 14^th – that beautiful Valentine’s day when Beth and I got engaged. We had a wonderful day that started at her house where she gave me a valentine’s card, a red tie and a beautiful tie clip she had made. As we left her house I noticed a very large heart shaped box sitting on her table. She said we would get to that later when we got back from Napa. I’ll describe our Napa Valentine’s Day in a future blog post, for now, back to the chocolate story. When we got back from Napa, Beth and I sat on her couch for awhile and she said to me “I need to give you your valentine’s present.” She went over and picked up the large heart shaped box and put it on my lap. I had no idea what it was until I opened it! There in the box were what seemed to be hundreds of half eaten chocolates! Needless to say, I kept track of every kiss until the chocolates were gone.

The very beginning of us.

We emailed back and forth. Sometimes we talked on the phone. Bruce was fine. He was nice. He was funny. He was fine. We went (as a group of friends) to the temple, shopping, San Fransisco, and to the David Archueta concert. Things started to change after the concert. Bruce was so kind to us. He bought the tickets for us, rented a more comfortable car to go in, had bottled water there for us, and gave us roses and Sees candy. Sees candy. Chocolate. So, of course, I was impressed. Bruce is a really nice guy. After he walked me to the door, I gave him a hug and thanked him for everything. He had really outdone himself. Then I wrote him an email that thanked him again and deliberated ending it with the word "love". Well, he was proving to be a really good friend. Couldn't I end it with the word, "love"? Friends love each other, right? Wow, did that start something! He wrote me back asking if I would go on a date with him. Would I? I always believed in dancing with anyone who asked and I knew that I would do the same with dates. After all, I wasn't going to marry him. right? haha! I did want to see if a friend of mine wanted to get to know me better, so I asked him and he wasn't interested in that type of relationship--just friends. So, after I cleared it with my girl friend who liked Bruce, I said, "Yes". Of course, I was conveniently going out of town for Christmas for 3 weeks. ha!

The very, very beginning of us.

Bruce got it mostly right, but I need to set the record straight--and isn't this what the blog is for? ;-) We were doing a lot of singles activities. In this area, it seemed to me that all they had were monthly firesides and dances. Twice a month isn't enough for me! So, we started game nights, activities, and even a stake sponsored game night, dance, and a fireside. During a fireside in September, Bruce gave the closing prayer and I thought, "That looks like the REAL Bruce that I am looking for" so I went up to him (I didn't run) and asked him if he was the Bruce that had given me his email and he said, "Yes". So, I admitted that I had lost his email address and would he please give it to me again? So I could email him about the activities. Seriously. The activities. After that I began emailing him about all the local the activities (because, by then, I had found out more Sacramento activities), but I didn't go to them all. He was invited to our local things, too. He came to a game night, but I was running around (yes, this time I was running) making sure that things were going well and that everyone was having fun. I did sit at Bruce's table once. He was fine. I was in the car with him during the Mystery Party. He was fine. As I got to know him, I realized that he was a really good guy, but he was so tall and his name was 'Bruce' which is my brother's name, so he was fine. One of my friends was interested in him so I kept on with my busy life and waited for my first date with....anyone! I was set up a few times, but no one had asked me out yet. I had been divorced for a year. Instead, we all "hung out" together. Just like the Young Single Adults. ha!

Part E - Are We Dating Yet?

I only sent one email to Beth each night while she was in Southern California so I wouldn’t interfere with her activities there. I also called her on Christmas and wondered after we talked whether she had really wanted me to call her. I could imagine all of the guys she was going out with during the holidays. I was jealous when she told me she was going to the New Years dance but was relieved when I found out she was going with a bunch of women. I told her in an email that going to the New Years dance with a bunch of women didn’t sound to bad to me.

I was happy when she arrived home in Roseville but still didn’t know whether she wanted to date me or not. I had given her a couple of gift certificates to a restaurant in Placerville with the note that “She could use them herself or she could use them on a date with you know who!” By the time she arrived back in Roseville, she still hadn’t made any mention of the gift certificates or how she wanted to use them. So although we continued communicating via email and phone I never asked her out. My frustrations with the situation finally ended up in one of the emails and she responded that what I said in the email confused her and she wanted to talk about it. She then suggested we meet at the restaurant after she was done teaching her school class on Monday. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited! The first date with Beth!

To begin with, I think we were both uncomfortable on that first date not knowing each other very well and being unsure of our intentions. However, as the evening progressed, we became more comfortable with each other and she shared some of her past with me including telling me about her daughter Sarah. As she told me about Sarah I began to see the tender and caring side of Beth. After dinner I walked her to the car and gave her a good hug which she politely returned. This had been the ice breaker for us and we each left with the desire for a second date and further opportunities for getting to know each other.