Monday, September 19, 2011

One Of My Favorite Stories

My mom and dad during their dating years
(Not sure on the date, but it should be either '68 or '69)

I always loved it when my parents would tell me stories about when they were little, or when they were dating, or even stories of when they were first married.  The stories were fascinating to me, and sometimes they were just really funny!  My favorite funny story took place when my parents were dating.  My mom and dad met while they were both attending The University of Oklahoma in Norman.  My dad was a junior and my mom was a sophomore at the time, and they were both your typical poor college students.  My dad had this very tight budget in mind when he planned a date for a warm fall afternoon.  He stopped by a grocery store and picked up a nice cold watermelon, then planned to meet my mom in a nearby park to enjoy a  picnic together.  My dad cut the watermelon into thick slices and my mom ate a few until she was full and didn't want anymore.  But you see, my dad had (and to be honest still has) seriously deep-rooted feelings about not wasting anything.  It kills him to see leftover food go to waste.  So, he kept on eating slices of watermelon and continued to offer more slices to my mom.  Not wanting to appear impolite or ungrateful, my mom ate slice after slice of watermelon even though  she was way past the "comfortably full" point.  Finally, she had just eaten too much and had to run to a nearby trashcan where she proceeded to throw up all of the watermelon she had forced down a few minutes earlier.  I'm sure she wasn't laughing at the time, but looking back on it years later, they would smile as they recounted the "infamous watermelon date."  Thankfully, my mom looked past that dreadful afternoon and eventually married my dad. And I'm pretty glad she did! 

Do you have any funny/embarrassing date stories you'd like to share?

6 comments:

Dad said...

I just can't believe how pretty Barabara was. I look like the cat who just captured the canary.

Maria Rose said...

Love that story! Your parents look too cool!

I pretty much regularly embarrass myself. When I first talked to Eric I was 5'11" and he was 15 still awaiting a growth spurt, maybe 5'5"--maybe. I asked him, "Does it bother you that you are so short?" He looked at me blankly and with full sarcasm said, "No." I didn't bother him again for a couple of years.

Onlythemanager said...

I am sitting at the table laughing out loud! Your parents were so fortunate to have found one another. Keep telling the family stories. We love reading them!

Emily said...

Dad, I think you look pretty cool in your Converse! And I agree, mom was so beautiful.

Mocha Mama 24 said...

I was going to say your Dad looks so cool too! Love the story and can just picture it happening!

k_stin said...

I agree! I think your parents look wonderful. That is a great story. I would be just like your mom and be nice and keep eating, but a little watermelon goes a long way!

I do have some embarrassing date stories, but I would rather share them in an anonymous name! They're pretty embarrassing!