Still married in my mind

The day was May 19th, 2019, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was out front of a Mexican restaurant in Dover, DE. I was shaking because I haven’t been on a date in 3 years. I hadn’t been on a date in a long time. I was fresh out of the Army and navigating new civilian life. I finally said, “Jeremy, get out of the car. It’s a date. If it goes badly, at least you got some food.” Little did I know that statement shaped the next 6.5 years of my life.

When I saw her, my breath left my lungs. It felt like all the blood left my legs. The tough guy exterior the army created went straight out of the window. Somehow, I made it to where she was walking. I said, “Hey, are you Katie?” She said, “Yeah, and you must be Jeremy.” She had on the cute outfit. I got to meet the girl who seemed so shy. Once she opened up, she had such a story to tell.

We sat for hours talking about life and how we got to this point sitting in that booth together. It felt effortless. She made me laugh so much my jaw hurt and I barely ate my meal. I didn’t want the date to end. I asked “what else there is to do.” Like I hadn’t lived in DE for most of my life. She said “Well there is this mini golf place in Camden and they have ice cream. I thought “I can’t believe that just worked, Jeremy don’t blow this chance, you are doing so well.”

We met each other at Tre Sorelle Dolce in Camden. She told me I play mini golf often so you are going to lose. I remember saying “keep it close, but let her win.” Boyyyyyyy she beat my a**. She felt so bad. she let me buy her ice cream. We talked for what felt like the rest of the night. Most of my ice cream melted to the bottom of the cone. I then decided to walk her to her car. For some stupid reason, I leaned in for a kiss. To this day, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I DID THAT!!!!!! It was probably the worst one I have ever given a girl. She later told me she was shocked and agreed it was a terrible try.

I walked back to my car and thought “real smooth Jeremy, she probably is blocking you as we speak.” I couldn’t stop thinking about the entire day playing back in my head on my drive home. How could meeting someone new flip my life on its head after one afternoon? I thought “if she blocks you at least you are back in the date scene.” I had no idea she was talking about me. She was telling her family, friends, and everyone who would listen about the guy from Townsend, Delaware.