The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Blind Dates

So how did you meet your spouse? The story of how I met my husband plays out like this—it started out as a blind date! I always hated blind dates. But I had a best friend who was determined to “set me up.” Most likely because I wasn’t dating at the time and hadn’t been dating for a while. She, on the other hand, was blissfully happy in her new found relationship and was dating. In fact, she was dating the roommate of my (unbeknownst to me at the time) future husband.

And so my friend came to me one day and told me she had this guy who just happened to be the roommate of the guy she was dating. I just had to meet him! Maybe even go out with him! “He has great teeth!” she said. Yeah, well, teeth were important to her. I agreed to a phone call only. Oddly enough, we talked for two hours.

“Nice voice,” I thought. Now if his looks matched his voice—that would be sweet. Eventually I agreed to a date. But first there had to be some ground rules. Since neither of us liked the idea of a blind date and had agreed we were really just doing this for the sake of our friends, we decided the best way to handle our first face to face meeting was to make a pact. If I didn’t like what I saw when I opened the door, I had his permission to close the door in his face. Likewise, if he didn’t like what he saw when I opened the door, he had my permission to walk away. With the deal struck, the date was on!

The big night arrived and with it so did my nerves. In an effort to break-the-ice I decided to play a trick on my unsuspecting blind date. The doorbell rang; I opened the door, took one look (PRETTY STINKIN’ CUTE THIS GUY!), and promptly closed the door in his face! HA! HA! HA! When I opened the door, he had walked away!

That was the beginning of a silly, yet everlasting relationship that ultimately led to marriage. In between we acted like fools. Him with his bag full of practical jokes. One of which involved catfish! VOMIT!! But that’s another blog. Me calling off the wedding a week before the date. That would be another blog too!

We were married July 23, 1976.

David & Regina getting ready to cut the wedding cake    Mr. & Mrs. David Matthews walking back up the aisle

Now thirty-seven years later, we find ourselves just as silly and in love as the day we were “set up.” Oh, and the friend—she has remained one of our dearest and best friends even after the Blind Date!

David & Regina 02

So my take on blind dates is this—some can be disastrous. I’ve had more than my share of those. Some can be so-so and even turn into great friendships. And then there are others—well, you just never know when your Knight in Shining Armor might show up in the disguise of a Blind Date!

 

2 Responses

  1. Brad and I met on a blind date too. I had heard about him for three years since his best friend from high school became a friend of mine in college. We dated off and on ( a lot of off) for 3 years before we married.