Chapter 1: How I met Ginny B.

It was the fall of 1978 and I was in my Junior year in college. I was never a Casanova, Don Juan or any sort of smooth operator when it came to dating. I was shy and extremely inept when it came to things dealing with the opposite sex. Sure I have dated some my freshman and sophomore years but nothing serious. If I went out with some one more then twice it was an exception. Me on the phone calling for a date was an exercise in imitating Mel Blanc’s Porky Pig. You would not want to use the phone after I had called a coed for a date for Fri or Sat night. The phone would be soaked from my perspiration. To say I was anxious would be an understatement, out and out terror stricken would be a more accurate description.

In November I needed a date for my Fraternity’s Fall Formal and the girl who I had gone out with a few times had turned me down. She was nice about it. There was just no chemistry between the two of us and she just didn’t want to continue going out. I can’t say I blamed her. Frat parties with her were like going to a wake. We would dance a few dances and the rest of the time we spent in awkward silence. Either sitting there silently looking at each other or talking to others who we knew. Only time we spoke to to each other was when I offered to get her another beer from the keg.

To her credit she offered to ask a girl who lived in her dorm if she would like to go to the dance with me instead. I had nothing to lose so I told her to go ahead and ask away. The girl in question was Ginny B. I had seen her around campus and knew who she was. Ginny B was a very pretty girl. She was tall and thin and very cute. I wouldn’t say she was a beauty but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with her out in public, She asked Ginny B if she would be interested in attending a fraternity formal dance with me in two weeks. Ginny B. seemed open to it but only if I asked her in person. So my former date made arrangements for me to meet Ginny B. in the grill room at the Student Union the next day after my last class.

At the per-arranged time I walked in to the grill room and there sat Ginny B. When she saw me approach she broke out into a big smile. I tossed my book bag into the booth the opposite side of the table from her.

I introduced myself as James Mercer and asked if she would like a soft drink. She answered in the affirmative so I got us a couple of colas. We made small talk for a while and then I got down to business of asking her to the formal. I barely got out the words “Would you...” when she answered yes.

Well that had been easy. The rest of the time we spent in the grill room we told each other more about ourselves. I the son of a social worker/teacher and a automotive parts plant manager and she the daughter of a college president and a practicing psychologist. To say the least I was impressed, this was a girl I wouldn’t be ashamed to introduce to my parents if that occurrence ever happened.

When we stood up to leave I noticed top of her head came to my nose, I am 6 ‘ 4″ and usually had to bend way over when I slow danced with most girls. This was nice having someone closer to my own height to date. I offered to walk her back to her dorm and she accepted. We made more small talk the 3 blocks we walked. I noticed I was very comfortable being around her and did not have the usual feelings of anxiety I had when talking to a young woman. At the door to her dorm she reached up and gave me a kiss on my cheek, She turned and skipped into her dorm’s front hall. Me, I floated the entire 6 blocks to my frat house. Yes sir, this one could be a keeper. Never before had I ever felt this comfortable around a female my age. To top it off she apparently liked me. And that is how I met Ginny B.