I’m angrier than a pigeon without a car to poop on because I didn’t come up with the idea for this post until now. In this post, I will discuss my embarrassing dating story. We all have awkward, embarrassing moments in our dating lives and I am no different.
This story goes back all the way to 2003. In my prior religion, which I will not name as I refuse to validate it, dating was, of course, strongly encouraged and maybe even expected, especially those who were between 18 and 30 years of age. Back then, I was 25 and not really all that interested in dating given the way that my first marriage imploded and went sideways.
At that time, I had a friend named Amy and I was too blind to see that she was subtly dropping hints that she’d like to go on a date. It took the person in charge of the adult men in the congregation to pull me aside and make it known. Even though I wasn’t too keen on the idea because if dating went bad that would wreck our friendship, I gathered up the courage to formally ask her out on a date.
The date was a cliche; we went to dinner and then went to see a movie. We chose Titanic, which at that time had already been out for some time. The movie was moving and emotional, so tears came to my eyes during certain scenes. I was able to hold them back, Here comes the embarrassing part.
In this scene, my favorite hymn, Nearer, My God To Thee, played over flashbacks and over shots of various people, including children, preparing for what they knew was coming next: death. Of course, watching each character prepare for death was sad enough, but at one point, I completely lost control.
As things got more emotional, I felt bigger tears prepare to overcome me. So, I looked away. I turned my head to my right, glancing at the screen, and pretended everything was fine. But, it was at this point in the scene that I completely lost it. Once I saw the old couple embrace, knowing that they were going to die together, I could hold it in no longer. Watching the mother console her young children only added to the gravity of the situation.
At that point, I lost it. I turned away and the tears heavily flowed down from my eyes onto my cheeks. And I mean lots of tears. The tears burned my eyes and my face. And I was absolutely and totally crying. I completely lost control of my emotions and it was both beautiful and humiliating.
I kept looking away, hoping that Amy wouldn’t notice. But she did. She put her hand on my shoulder and I couldn’t look back. I just couldn’t. I felt myself shuddering completely. I didn’t want her to think that I was some sort of wuss.
Then, she reached over and took me by my chin. She moved my head so that I was facing her and I looked into her eyes. Tears were flowing down her face as well. She just smiled in her shy and beautiful way. She reached out and hugged me as we completely lost control together.
Even to this day, that qualifies as my most embarrassing dating moment. Even though she was crying too, I was still in the mindset at that time that I had to put on some kind of act and not show any form of emotion. I knew before going in to the theater that it was going to be an emotional, beautiful movie, but I was not prepared for the level of emotion that awaited us.
In my previous church, young adults were expected, or at least encouraged, to go on what’s called a “mission,” essentially preaching the gospel, at least the gospel that that church believes in. Young men serve for two years and young women serve for 18 months.
After our date, Amy had been talking about wanting to go on her mission, and I encouraged her to do so. Even though I was starting to feel feelings about her that I’d never had about another woman up to that point (not even my first wife!), I told her she needed to do this. If it means that much to her, I told her, then she should go. If we were meant to be, we’d see each other again after a year and a half.
It was during that time that, after prayer and consideration, I moved back to Las Vegas, where I was raised for most of my youth. I felt that that was the best move for me at that time.
Would Amy and I have ever been a couple? Would we ever have gotten married? There’s no way to know, but things worked out the way that they were supposed to. I met my current wife at a church dance and the rest is history. And I’m sure that she got married not too much longer after she returned from her mission.
But looking back to that date, I am still embarrassed. I wonder what the people, if they even noticed, in the theater thought of me. “He must be some kind of wuss,” I imagined them thinking. We were in the first row center, so there were plenty of people who, if they even looked, would have seen our emotional moment.
All in all, this is a very beautiful but sad montage, and that, coupled with being set to my favorite hymn, makes it one of the best scenes I have ever seen, even to this day. It was beautifully directed and edited. The director really made it, and the entire movie, one of the most beautiful movies to ever be made.