The Beginning

There's so much to tell! I'll have to break this down into segments, or I'll never get thru it - and neither will anyone else (without falling asleep, that is!)

Ok, so this all started about 4 years ago when “The Man” and I served on several committees together and became very casual friends. Following a meeting one evening, I overheard him asking another committee member “how long as Kate been divorced?” The answer of course was “Kate’s not divorced – she’s a widow”. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard, turned slightly red and quietly responded “Sorry, I didn’t realize”. That was the first indication of any interest.

We also ran three weekend camp events together. My best friend also came out to work the camp weekends. In the same fashion that we used to rate guys in high school, she (who has a pronounced preference for blonde-haired, blue-eyed guys) grinned at me as the tall dark-haired, brown-eyed man walked away one day and said loudly “7 – I’d give him a 7”. I pointed at him and replied “Naw, he’s at least an 8 1/2” – and realized he had heard us when he turned and grinned.

A few months later I was asked to organize a dinner for about 250 and “The Man” was my contact to arrange cooperation between his organization and mine. So I e-mailed him, and he responded with a lunch invitation. We went to lunch, finalized all plans for the dinner (with his offer of help far exceeding expectations) and then proceeded to talk for hours! And in the weeks leading up to the dinner, he often e-mailed me or stopped by my office for things that honestly required far less attention!

The afternoon of the dinner, I made a necessary trip to his office to pick up some literature and make sure his staff would arrive early to assist with set-up as planned. While we chatted, he directed me to his computer and showed me some pics of a recent ice climbing trip – and rested his hand on my lower back. I was speechless. I’m NEVER speechless. I barely managed to mutter “see you tonight” before I left.

I was a scheduled speaker at the dinner. I am also the person who made the seating chart. And I am an idiot. When I stood at the podium to give my speech, I looked down – and it was at this very moment I realized I had seated “The Man” directly in front of the stage. He caught my eye and smiled – and I damn near lost the power of speech again! Somehow I managed to do what needed to be done and returned to my seat (on stage with the honored guests and other speakers). Had a heck of a time trying to figure out where to put my eyes for the rest of the night, because it seemed like he was looking my way every time I glanced in that direction!

At the end of the evening “The Man” walked me to my car, kissed me lightly on the cheek and said “Well done. I'm impressed, but I knew I would be – drive safe” and then disappeared into the darkness. I couldn’t speak for hours! I don't know how I managed to get home!