Cindi and Ted, Chapter Four

Ted called me the very next evening. Little did he know at the time that he was committing a HUGE blunder.

My dad does NOT like the phone ringing during dinner. Now come on…how in the world would people know exactly when we are eating dinner??? To him, though, that’s irrelevant. You just do NOT interrupt my dad during dinner.

Ted and I hadn’t mentioned that during our first date, so how would he know that he was calling while we were having DINNER?????

Whenever the phone would happen to ring while we were eating, we always sort of glanced at dad out of the corner of our eye, just to see how he would take it. His usual response was “I’m not here” and then he’d absolutely ignore the continual ringing. Nowadays, the answering machine kicks on after the fourth ring, but back then we didn’t have a machine and the phone would ring…and ring…and ring…and ring…continually.

So when the phone rang this particular time, my dad responded with “I’m not here” and my mom jumped up to answer it so it wouldn’t interrupt my dad any longer than necessary. Then she looked at me and nodded. I ran to my bedroom to pick up the phone so she could sit back down.

It was Ted. He told me that he had just gotten a new car that day and asked if I would go for a ride with him. I told him that I would love to go, but not to pick me up until around 7:00.

When I returned to the table, of course I was asked who had called and I told everyone that I would be going for a ride with Ted later on. I could hardly contain my excitement, but knew that this was NOT the time to start gushing.

After dinner, I cleared off the table and rinsed the dishes. I went to take a bath and get ready, knowing that my mom would be washing the dishes, but I would still need to dry them before I left. Yep, I had “chores” and the only way to get out of them was…well, there really wasn’t a way!

Ted picked me up in this shiny, red car and was such a gentleman. As we walked to the car, he opened the door for me (he had also done that the night before when we went to the concert) and off we went.

We spent at least four hours just driving around on that summer night, talking and getting to know one another. And yes, I did mention the “no phone call” time, hahaha!

Over the next several months I learned about his family, he learned about mine. I found out about his friends, he found out about mine. We shared our thoughts on current events and dreams for the future.

We had a wonderful time during those months, including the first time he took me to his parents’ house…

To be continued...

My Dateless Sons

This was taken in Myrtle Beach, SC, when Alex was 8 and Joey was 12.

I don't know what the problem is, but neither of my sons has EVER been on a date!

Joey is 20 and he is an old fashioned soul deep down inside. He thinks that Archie Bunker from All in the Family is absolutely right about everything. (I have NO idea where he got that!!) Anyway, I think that he is so afraid of rejection that he won't ask a girl out. He's never had a circle of friends, because he hasn't found other guys who have the same interests that he has. Can we say "lack of compromise" here??? He's so set in his ways that he gets upset when people don't see things his way. Yes, he can drive us crazy at times, but he has many good qualities too. He's a hard worker, he's very dedicated to what he decides is important. He's a good looking guy too. He never went to a high school dance, and whenever I mentioned "PROM" to him, he just cringed and said, "MOTHER!" I really do think that he's terribly afraid of asking a girl out and her saying "no" and that is what is keeping him from doing that. If I ask him if there are any nice girls in any of his classes, he tells me that he doesn't even look at them and he's taking classes for an education, that's all.

Alex is 17 and has not been on a date either. His personality is soooooooo different and I think we might be making a teeny weeny bit of progress with him. At least he is no longer having a royal FIT when I mention "PROM" to him. He just simply says, " I ain't going." (He says "ain't" because he knows that I can't stand it!) I told him that we're forming a team to get him a prom date. As you can imagine, he's not too excited about that. There are several potential prom dates in mind, only these girls don't know it yet, hahaha! He would be a great date...he's got a real sense of humor, and is very good-hearted.

They obviously inherited their lack of confidence in dating from their father...I'll explain that in my next post.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on Joey having his first date and Alex having his first date AND having a prom date!

I think I've got my work cut out for me!

This was taken this past October as Alex was turning 17 and Joey was 20.