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How I Met Tammy
Tammy says when I write a story it will read like a newspaper article with
just the facts and nothing more. Well, I can probably tell stories in
person that make you laugh, but writing takes a little work. So I am going
to try to tell you how Tammy and I met while providing a few facts and lots
of opinion.
Our story really begins in 1969. Tammy was born. Groovy. Then in the
following decade and year, 1970, I was born. Right On. I told Tammy that
I was alive in the womb in the 60s, but smart enough to wait until the 70s
to make my appearance. Ok ,now Fast-Forward to the year 2007. Sweet.
Tammy and I began communicating with each other for the first-time in 2007
via the Internet (Thanks to Al Gore for inventing the Internet.) We met
Online as members of eHarmony.com (I’m certain you have heard of eHarmony –
it’s an Online matchmaking service.) Tammy says she tried to “talk” to me
in December 2006, but I never responded. I was super-busy in December and
January, so we might have missed meeting each other if Tammy had not
“nudged” me in May of 2007. (“Nudged” is a highly technical eHarmony term
which means I got a second chance to respond to her.) It was perfect
timing for me to meet Tammy because I had recently settled into a new
full-time job after working various contract jobs the previous year. So I
actually made time to read her profile and become interested. I could tell
Tammy loved Jesus, was a fun person to be around, that she put a lot of
thought into everything, and that she would probably laugh at my jokes. I
also love God and wanted to be with a woman who would be a partner in
seeking Him. Also, I love the outdoors and like to spend time in the
mountains as often as I can. Tammy’s online profile said she liked to
“camp, swim, fish, hike, bike, & boat ride.” So I am going to test all of
these areas on our honeymoon, except for fishing. (The biggest fish I’ll
probably ever catch is Mrs. Paul’s.) Also, I am a big sports fan – some
might say crazy sports fan. (Go Mavs! – please find a way to beat New
Orleans in this playoff series.) Although apparently I’m not so crazy that
I wouldn’t get married during the NBA Playoffs. Anyway, I could tell that
Tammy did not completely avoid guys who were crazy about sports.
I first joined eHarmony when I lived in Virginia because my mom suggested it
to me. (Thanks Mom.) However I never told Mom that I joined. I was an
eHarmony member over a year, and was matched with too many women; it was
hard to keep up. It became a job to go through all my matches and eliminate
all the people I was not interested in meeting. On eHarmony the procedure
involves asking and answering 3 short-essay questions. Generally these
questions are selected from a list of about 30 pre-made questions. Being
the techie geek that I am, I setup a database of my standard answers to each
of the premade questions so that I would not have to think each time to
answer them. So basically Tammy got my standard answers to her three
questions: “Describe an interest you have that you would truly hope your
partner could share with you.” -- “What do you think are the three best
traits you have to offer a partner?” -- & “Describe your spirituality.”
Anyway, I was only an eHarmony member for a year while I lived in Virginia.
Then I took an eBreak.
After I moved back to Texas, one earlier match “nudged” me around March
2006. So since I had been meaning to sign up with eHarmony for another year
I decided to sign up and start communicating with this “other girl” from
Virginia. (Tammy is jealous of this other girl, even though if it were not
for this other person I may not have been a member of eHarmony at the right
time to be matched with Tammy.) But I only traded like two messages with
this other match. Then I began my same pattern of not putting enough time
into eHarmony to fully communicate with each interesting match. This is why
when I was so busy in December 2006 that I missed being matched with Tammy
and never saw her request to communicate until she “nudged” me in 2007.
Before the end of May 2007 Tammy and I began to talk on the phone and use
regular email to communicate. (Until then I had never told my mother that I
had been with eHarmony for two different years – and about this time my Mom
sent me an email about an eHarmony special offer. Ha! So I told Mom that I
had already taken her idea over two years earlier and in fact I was about to
go on my first date with Tammy in Dallas! ) So Tammy and I met in person
for our first date almost exactly a month after we had begun talking. We
met on a parking lot in Downtown Dallas. Very Romantic. In fact, our
first two dates began and ended on a parking lot.
I was very excited to be going to meet Tammy for the first time. Once
again, being a geek, I sent Tammy a personalized Google map of our meeting
place. I had also mapped out our whole afternoon. Here are some events
from our first date… We met in parking lot near West End, Dallas, across
from Subway at 11:30am on June 2nd, 2007 <insert heavenly music
here> (We Met!!) By this time we really knew so much about each other from
our month long conversations. We walked to the train and rode to Union
Station. I surprised Tammy by sneaking her under the road and railroad
tracks into the elevator area for Reunion Tower. We had lunch in “the
Ball” (specifically Antares Restaurant in Reunion Tower.) I found out Tammy
only likes cheeseburgers plain, meat-and-cheese-only. (In fact, I would
eventually learn she barely likes any condiments, except perhaps marinara or
BBQ sauce.) We rode a taxi to the Nasher Sculpture Museum. After the
museum the plan was to walk about a half-mile to the train tracks and ride
the light rail. I didn’t want to carry the big umbrella for half-o-day so I
had previously stashed it near the museum. So after we left the museum I
surprised Tammy by telling her I had stashed an umbrella earlier in a shrub
planter in case of rain. It was not raining however. So I pulled an
umbrella out of the bushes and I guess Tammy did not know what to think.
Later I believe she found that to be cute of me, but you will have to ask
her. Finally, instead of riding the train back to the car we continued with
my “extended-date” plan. If the date were awkward at this point I figured
we could go home, but we were having a great time so we rode the train to
City Place which has an underground terminal and long escalators. We had
fun just walking and talking. Eventually above ground we wandered the
streets and stopped to snack at Whataburger. Then we rode the train back to
our cars. Finally for part three of our day-long date, Tammy rode in my car
with me to a special organic restaurant I had picked out. We had a nice
dinner and I really enjoyed our conversations. After dinner we returned to
Tammy’s car. My final surprise was an orchid flower I had stashed in a
cooler in my car trunk. I was sure at this point I really wanted to see
Tammy again so I retrieved the flower and gave it to her. She kissed me on
the cheek <insert more heavenly music here> and we said goodbye. End of
first date story. I called her on my drive home and we talked for a few
more hours.
So that’s the summary of how we met. I am thankful to God for bringing us
together in His timing. I have been a mostly contented single person, but I
am really looking forward to my new life with Tammy and our future together
– beginning with our honeymoon trip and then life together in “The Moneypit.
” (My house which we will fix-up together.)
Thanks for all your hopes and
prayers for us.
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