Do you remember an awkward dating situation?My mother was always really good about feeding the missionaries that served in Glasgow. For them it didn’t hurt either that there were two single young ladies home from college. They seemed to be at our home quite often, you know, doing acts of service for my mom. Even though you always mind your p’s and q’s, it isn’t too difficult to detect a chemistry or interest in the air.
One Saturday morning at college, out of the blue, I get a phone call from one of these former missionaries inviting me to come visit him in California and take in Knotts Berry Farm. Great . . . sure . . . never been! The idea of seeing if some mutual interest was still there wasn’t lost on me.
So when he comes to pick me up at the home that had been provided for me, there is another girl coming along. Hmmm. What!? Yep, she went to Knotts Berry with us – a threesome. If the intent is to check out a girl from your mission, why would you bring along an extra? Obviously, there wasn’t going to be any warm, touchy, feely stuff coming from me that weekend :)
Well a few months later we got a wedding invitation with a few snapshots included. Sure enough, the blonde was the tag-along. No harm done . . . I got a trip out of it.
Any of you remember Elder Southwick? He does look like he adores her, though, doesn’t he. In retelling this story, Clayton’s cousin quickly told me what I should have said and done. Within earshot of the girl, lean over to the guy and say, “So, what’s she gonna be doing tonight when you and I are making out?” Yessiree . . . I so wished I had thought of that.
Our family has enjoyed several trips to Knotts Berry Farm since then:
1991: Derek, Kendall, and Kaymee
Kendall trying to sweet talk some chocolates out of this Madame
Derek and Kendall and the Knotts Berry Babes
2005: This was one of the funnest things we ever did at Knotts. It was such a kick getting dressed. We had several poses and a lot of joking. Of course as a mom, I wanted the proper, sedate pose in a living room parlor setting, but I got vetoed.Next week: Tomorrow is my dad's birthday, so I was thinking what lessons did you learn from your father?
5 comments:
Can you imagine what his wife has to say every time she pulls out the photos from the time they went to Knots Berry Farm? “You Jerk!!!!!” As she hits him over the head with a rolling pin....
I think your getting pay back with interest.LOL
Ok, I have tried to leave comments before to no avail, lets see if this works.I have to comment on the Elder Southwick story. This particular missionary, I was absolutely in love with!!!!! Unfortunatly for me, he was smitten with Kim. I guess he needed to see her one more time to see if he was making the right choice. Anyway, to add insult to injury to me, Dad asked me to take a gift to Leonard Southwick's wedding reception, to "represent the family". "Painful, very painful!"
I guess it's better to remove all doubt and I obviously didn't pass the litmus test:) We even drove a considerable distance to visit his mother. I somehow think he must not have been entirely truthful with his girfriend because I can't imagine her being so insecure or so domineering as to include herself in the "outing" (since it obviously wasn't a date). She probably felt more uncomfortable than I did--had more to lose. I was just along for the ride ... all's well that ends well.
Tana, thanks for the comments! Easy, huh. I know you all are entitled to my opinion, but it's great to hear yours:)
The rest of the story!!!
After submitting this post, I turned into Nancy Drew and set out to find Southwick and ask him a question or two. After 4 dead ends, including talking with his cousin, my former Ricks College genealogy teacher, I found him living in Herriman UT--just a stone's throw, or a hop,skip and a jump from Tana. I left him a message and he called back.
When asking him about the Knotts Berry outing, he said, "It's so interesting you would mention that--I have told that story so many times over the years." (Great, now I'm an ah-ha story) So, I asked, "If your intent was to check out a girl from your mission, why did you bring another girl along?" "I was dating this girl, and when I told her there was a girl coming down from my mission that I wanted to take out, she said "If you ever want to date me again, I'm coming along!"
There you have it folks, some men just need a strong woman to win a commitment from them.
I then later invited him to come and visit us when my mother was down this last weekend. Sometimes curiosity does lead to good things.
Yeah, it sounds like all laughs now...but I would have given that guy a quick shove out the door and never looked back. Really underhanded and the fact that he admitted to her that he wanted to take someone else out while they were dating is just crazy. I guess different strokes for different folks. But good story, nonetheless, Kim!
Heather/Gofita
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