Church and Date

I met a guy who I thought was good company and he would show up when I was working at a coffee shop or when I was doing homework at the library, but we went a whole month without going out on a date. He finally asked me if I would go to look at a collection of mosaics at the St. Louis Cathedral, but the cathedral was closed by the time I showed up. I told him how unfortunate it was that we couldn’t see the mosaics, and that I should probably just go home. 

Before I could get away he took me by the hands and led me up the cathedral steps. He told me that he loved me and he had brought me here so we could maybe one day marry there. He said that it had been the best month of his life and he was happy to have me. I didn’t even reply and we made our way to our cars. 

I stopped taking his phone calls for a day or two. He left me three or four messages. The last voicemail stated that he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and only had a few months to live. He said if I wanted to spend those months with him, I should call him back. I got the voicemail while I was at the grocery store and immediately called a friend to have him listen to it. We both decided that I needed to just call and end it. 

When I called him, he started laughing. I told him that his voicemail was very irresponsible and immature. He told me not to worry and asked if I was upset at the thought of him dying, checking to make sure I wasn’t crying. The only reason why I would have cried was because at some point in my life I thought it was a good idea to give this man my cell phone number. 

I gently told him I thought I would like to end our “friendship” and he started crying himself. I said it was mostly because I just wasn’t into relationships, much less ones that suggested marriage. He kept saying, “But I’m in front of my entire family! Let me call you back!” I told him that just wasn’t a good idea, and that we were finished, and he sobbed. Finally I just hung up. 

He emailed me three months later, letting me know he had moved to Chicago and was “off the market.” Oh darn.