Life Victorious!

A Love Story, Part XII

15 Dec 2009 2 Comments

by coreythesailor in "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a Match!": A Love Story

I really wanted Shalimar to be my date for the symphony, so I decided to do something unconventional.  I fasted.  I fasted from food for 24 hrs. with the specific prayer intention that Shalimar would be my date.

I fasted on a Thursday, and on Friday I got a call, “Hi, this is Shalimar.  You don’t know me, but Lon said you had an extra ticket to the symphony.”

Wow!  I was very excited to say the least.  God answered my prayer in a big way.

We made arrangements for me to pick her up.  One thing I remember is that I was watching Dukes of Hazzard reruns on the television when she called.  I could also hear that she was watching the same show because I could hear it in the background on the phone.  It’s funny what you remember…

Sooooo…. my impression of our first date…

…to be continued…

A Love Story… Part XI

07 Dec 2009 3 Comments

by coreythesailor in "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a Match!": A Love Story

So I had the symphony tickets now.  All I needed was a date.  I knew exactly who I was going to ask.  Her name was Hertha.  I had been eyeing her from afar for a while.  This was the perfect opportunity to ask her out.  So I did. 

She said no.  Shot down in flames.  Rejected. 

Now what was I going to do?  Who could I ask? 

Well, there was that girl from Harbor House with the captivating smile.  But I had only met her once and she didn’t know me from Adam.  I don’t think I even remembered her name.  I was entirely too shy to ask her out.  Nonetheless, I decided that is who I would like to go to the symphony with now.

I needed a good plan though.  I decided to call a male friend at Harbor House who I knew.  I told him I had an extra ticket to the symphony and asked if he could ask around to see if anyone would like to go.  I didn’t tell him who I wanted to go with, just an open invitation to anybody at Harbor House.

Because I knew who I wanted to go with (I think her name is Shalimar…), I needed to do something to ensure she would be the one I would go with without her knowing.  I knew what would do it. 

It wasn’t exactly a conventional way to get someone to go out with you…

…to be continued…

A Love Story… Part X

04 Dec 2009 Leave a Comment

by coreythesailor in "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a Match!": A Love Story

So I needed tickets to the symphony, but it was completely sold out.  This was the early nineties, so this was before the internet and sites like stub hub.  I decided to go for a long shot and buy an ad in the classified ads of the newspaper.

The ad read something like, “Wanted, tickets to opening night of the symphony, XXX-XXXX.”  But what are that odds that someone who had tickets and wasn’t planning on using them would see the ad?  It was a long shot, but I went for it.

Sure enough, some one answered the ad and called me.  They had tickets and couldn’t use them for whatever reason.  I went out to their house and bought the tickets.

Wow, I thought.  That was going to be the hard part: getting the tickets.  Now, I just needed a date.  I knew exactly who I was going to ask.  (It might not be who you are thinking).

…to be continued…

A Love Story… Part IX

30 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment

by coreythesailor in "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a Match!": A Love Story

(We are pleased to bring you a new author, who has just stepped in and wishes to give further insight into this story… this should be exciting!  I introduce to you, Corey the Sailor, his nickname at Harbor House before I even knew him:)

A coincidence, or the hand of God….?

As a helicopter pilot in the Navy, for my first duty station I had orders to Japan.  I was excited to go oversees.

As I was finishing my training, though, my orders were changed and I was now to be stationed in Jacksonville??  Where in the heck is Jacksonville, I wondered?  (This was before they had an NFL team).

I found out it was in Florida…  And in Jacksonville, I made some wonderful friends.  I also was introduced to a wonderful community called L’arche Harbor House.  This was a community that looked after disabled adults.  I started volunteering there during my off time from the Navy.  I absolutely loved it.

I made a couple of deployments while stationed in Jacksonville.  Our squadron deployed from an aircraft carrier.  We deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.  We made some great port calls.  I got to visit Rome, Paris, Jerusalem, to name a few.

Upon returning from one of my deployments, I found out that my roomate was going to be performing on opening night in the brand new symphony hall in Jacksonville.  Now that would be a cool concert for a date to take someone to, I thought.  The only problem was the show was sold out and my roommate couldn’t get me a ticket.  How was I going to get a ticket?

…to be continued…