How To Fall In Love And Get Married – Even After A Bad First Date!

We currently have almost 6900 fans on The Swirl World’s Facebook page. The conversations are lively and fans are generous with their “Likes” of our posts.

Because our fans are so terrific – we have the BEST Facebook fans, bar none – today we are launching a new feature:

Fantastic Fans!

Each Friday we’ll share a mini profile, funny story or experience highlighting one of our fans.

For our inaugural launch, we introduce to you Karla and her husband Don.

Karla and Don are an amazing retired military couple (Navy) who met on active duty. They recount the story of their first date – each from their own point of view!

Our First Date Story:

Karla: My husband and I had been working together for about a month. Our conversations had been wonderful, humorous, educational and witty. Unlike most Naval aviators, he didn’t have the arrogance nor was he pompous. The zipper on his flight jacket had broken so he asked if I could repair it. He knew I could sew and had a sewing machine that could work leather. When I gave it back, he asked if he could repay me by taking me to dinner. I said yes.

Don: I knew how I felt about her when I met her but she kept talking about arrogant Naval aviators. I had to figure out a way to get her out to dinner without making it sound like a date (even though it was!). She agreed to repair my jacket and I, in the meantime, asked around to find out where the best restaurant was located. We were at a Naval base out in the boonies of Dahlgren, Virginia; not exactly a dating paradise. Someone told me about a seafood restaurant in Stafford, VA so I made a reservation there. I knew Karla loved seafood.

Karla: I was impressed with his manners. He opened my car door for me and we set off. I was living in Fredericksburg, at the time so Stafford was about ten minutes down the interstate. We finally found the place and, needless to say, I wasn’t impressed. It was out in the middle of nowhere, dark, and the “parking lot” was a dirt space covered with gravel and one naked light bulb hanging over it. The place was basically a roadhouse; the country-western music was so loud, it went beyond the walls of the place. I turned to Don and said, “If I don’t see any other Black people in here, we’re leaving.” It just looked like the stereotypical hangout for something really bad.

Don: As soon as I pulled into the “parking lot”, I wanted to kick myself; I knew I shouldn’t have listened to the guys at work. It looked like the headquarters for the KKK. I thought because it was near Quantico Marine Corps base, it would be fine but it was a “joint”. I felt like an idiot, taking her there on our first date but didn’t know what else to do. When she gave me fair warning, I felt even worse. I wanted to turn around, right there, but she said we had to chance it. She was trying to cheer me up!

Karla: We walked into the place and, yeah, it looked like a honky-tonk. We were about to turn and leave when the server came out and said, “Hi, y’all! Come on in! Two for dinner?” She was very friendly and welcoming. When we got to the dining room, both of us were relieved to see a diverse group eating and drinking in the place, chatting with each other and looking happy. It wasn’t a seafood place but the food they had was pretty good. Don was a complete gentleman, pulling out my chair, ordering for me off the menu, very solicitous. After dinner, we decided to go and see a movie. I wanted to stay in his company a while longer.

Don: I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the restaurant wasn’t complete disaster. Like Karla said, the food was good and her company was so amazing, I wanted to be with her as long as possible. When we arrived at the Cinema DeLuxe, the only movie that had just started was “Home Alone’. Strike two. I couldn’t believe my bad luck. How was I supposed to impress her sitting in a kid’s movie? I had been hoping for something romantic. When I asked her if it was okay, she said yes! Woot-woot!

Karla and Don: So, we saw the movie and we laughed until we cried. It was fun. Despite everything, our first date was a blast. We dated for three years and then married. We’ve been married for almost 21 years now and every anniversary, we eat at the restaurant of our dreams (definitely not the “joint”!) and we watch “Home Alone”. We can laugh about it now.

Karla and Don, we’ll take a “bad” first date every time – especially when it leads to a marriage of 20+ years! 😉

Join in the Fray: Have you ever had a “bad” date that turned out to be good?

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