By Kieran Lin Rich – KRich13@bellsouth.net
Friday nights are date nights for Jeff and Kieran Rich. We take turns planning dates and try really hard to come up with something original once in a while – something that doesn’t include the standard “dinner and a movie.”
As a result, we’ve had some interesting dates. One such date included a play, a downpour, and an improvised umbrella. The play, “Smoke on the Mountain”, was fantastic and in a surprise ad lib in the dialog at the end, I got baptised. Earlier that night during a summer downpour in Atlanta, I stepped in a puddle that went past my ankle. It has become another “look back on it and it’s funny” kinda memory. And the improvised umbrella? Well let’s just say that sunshades were designed to keep the interior of cars from baking in the sun and they were never meant to keep anyone dry. Just ask Jeff!
Another favorite date included a well-crafted plan, a blindfold, and a big surprise.
Kidnapping Jeff after work, I took him to the hotel where we had previously spent our wedding night. To get him there, I had blindfolded him and drove him around Atlanta during rush-hour in an effort to confuse him so he wouldn’t know where we were going. Driving during rush-hour in Atlanta even if you’re not blindfolded is confusing and nobody knows where they are going, so I had Jeff pretty turned around in short order.
I planned for weeks for this wonderfully romantic evening. In my best laid plans however, I did not account for the model citizens that rented the room across the hall from us. In a totally non-smoking hotel they decided to smoke something that was neither moral nor legal and, just as I was leading the blindfolded Jeff to our room, they managed to set off the fire alarm.
As the alarm screamed in my ear I stood in dumbfounded shock and chest-pounding fear. It took me a minute but I finally did tell Jeff that he could take off the blindfold. He was definitely surprised but certainly not for the reasons that I had intended!
The evening ended well. We were upgraded to a suite, got free breakfast the next morning, and built a memory that neither one of us will ever forget. We still laugh about that night and it has become the source of many private jokes between us.
Another one of my favorite dates was a few months ago when Jeff and I had a slumber party. Again it was my week to plan so I had him change into his pjs as soon as he got home. We had pizza for dinner, did a craft project, and played “Spin the Bottle.” I skipped the slumber party staples of sleeping on the floor — we’re too old — and painting each other’s fingernails — Jeff is too male; but we did watch “Schoolhouse Rock” videos as a tribute to my childhood and my beloved Saturday morning cartoons.
Our weekly dates give us a set time to reconnect and renergize our relationship. I can’t remember starting the “date night” tradition. It’s just always been a part of us and I’m so thankful that it has. So many of our favorite memories as a couple revolve around our Friday nights together.
This past week was no exception and it was a date that I will remember for a long, long time. It was one of those special dates where we simply knocked each other’s socks off. We planned it collectively and unfortunately, it’s entirely too expensive to do weekly or even monthly — although I would be perfectly willing! This Friday we spent our date night in Virginia.
We went out for dinner at a place called “Max & Erma’s”. It is a favorite from our Atlanta days and we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a franchise in Virginia Beach. After we got back to the hotel, we put our our sneakers, and most everything else that was in our suitcases (It was cold!), and went for a walk. Though it was already dark and getting colder by the minute, our hotel was steps from the Atlantic ocean and we just couldn’t let the opportunity for a “beach date” pass us by.
So we held hands and cuddled together and shivered. We walked and we talked and as the mesmerizing sound of the surf washed over me again and again, I found myself wishing time would stop. We were in the midst of one of those perfect moments when I felt that if I just knew where to reach, I could touch God.
As we made our way back to the hotel, I happened to glance over my shoulder at our footprints. In the bright moonlight I could see two sets of identical prints. Not only do Jeff and I have the same sized feet, we also wear the make and model of athletic shoes. But that was where the similarities ended. As I looked back, I could see portions of our walk that we were absolutely together, our feet landing stride for stride right next to each other. But there were also portions where one of us swayed out to the side, making the space between the sets of prints far apart for a while before eventually joining back together.
“That’s an awful lot like marriage,” I thought to myself in a bit of an “Ah-ha” moment. Sometimes we’re right together, mirroring each other step for step. Other times we’re out of sync and our gaits become uneven and unmatched and drift apart for a while before eventually coming back together.
Friday was one of those nights when we matched each other stride for stride. As we walked and talked about everything, I felt so close to my husband. I tried very hard to remember every detail about the night almost as a deposit for those times when our walk together is more of a fight than a stroll…for those times when words fail and communication breaks down.
Our date nights have given me lots of those “deposit” moments and I’m incredibly thankful for every one of them, for the man I get to share them with, and for the God who brought us together.
It was one of our best nights…
