My First Date in Many Years

Dinner and music. I am so very excited!

A certain fellow was walking his dog the other evening past the business where I have a part-time job. Looking in the window, he saw me and stopped. Tying the dog to a lamp post, he came inside.

Walking up to him I told him that he was more than welcome to bring the dog inside.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, please bring the dog in.”

I had met this dog before. He was a delightfully friendly Irish setter. As soon as the dog came inside I got down on one knee and the dog and I fell into an amorous embrace. I had not hugged a dog in months. It felt so very good. I rubbed his ears and head and neck and talked to him then hugged him again. After a few minutes of doggie love I stood up and shook the man’s hand.

This fellow is a local businessman and community leader here in the little podunk backwater town in which I live. He is intensely devoted to supporting the arts and bringing some culture to a community that is hopelessly stuck in the mentality of the 1950s and which considers ‘art’ to be synonymous with ‘Norman Rockwell.’ He sits on the board of the local art guild as well as the little community theatre and he has written and published a book about local history. He is a well-educated intellectual and happens to be rather progressive-minded — something that is very, very rare in this town.

Perhaps that is why we get along so well. I only run into him once or twice a year but every time I do we end up talking for twenty or thirty minutes or more. He loves to pick my mind and ask me endless questions. It is not the mundane chit-chat I indulge in with most locals. I tend to keep my thoughts and opinions private and never discuss philosophy or spirituality or anything remotely intellectual. After all, I do not want to be run out of town on a rail.

But this fellow is like-minded and he never fails to get me to open up and talk. Normally, if I want to have a serious conversation I have to phone one of my out-of-town friends or get on the internet. I always feel great after our conversations because it is such a rare opportunity to have a meaningful face-to-face conversation in ‘real-life.’ He reminds me how important and healthy that is.

One of this man’s businesses is a cafe where he occasionally hosts poetry readings and book-signings. He also periodically puts on a Dinner and Music event. He will close the cafe to the public and sell tickets to these little concerts. The event starts with a dinner and is followed by a set of music from either a musician or small ensemble of musicians. This is followed by dessert then one more set of music. I have never attended any of these events. Tickets cost $38 and, for me, that is profoundly unaffordable.

During our conversation the other night he asked me if I liked classical music. Of course I did. He then mentioned that he was having a Dinner and Music night on Thursday of this week and he suggested that I come. There was a string ensemble performing featuring a very talented violinist. Not only could I enjoy a fine meal and top-notch music but I could meet some like-minded art-loving people. He insisted that there really were some in this town and events like this one was where to meet them.

I said that it sounded utterly delightful but I hemmed and hawed and tried not to say that I just could not afford it.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out some paper, “Here. These are two free tickets. It won’t cost you a penny. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and meet some wonderful people.”

I took the tickets and looked at them. There were two of them!

“Bring a date,” he said.

Bring a date? What the….? I haven’t been on a date in many, many, many, many years. I gave up dating and relationships a long, long time ago. I don’t think I even remember how to go on a date. And who the hell would I ask?

I thanked the man profusely, shook his hand then hugged the heck out of his doggie. After they left I stood there for several minutes staring at the tickets in my hand.

My mind went into nostalgia mode as it time traveled back to the 1960s. As a student my music teacher took a great deal of interest in me. For some strange reason she thought I showed promise. She was always lending me records and books and heaping encouragement on me. She was probably the only teacher I ever had who did that.

Once, she and her husband took me to a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert. I was so excited about that. For this concert the symphony had brought in a guest violinist from somewhere in Europe. He was considered one of the best violinists in the world. I was utterly mesmerized by his performance and immediately wanted to play the violin. After the concert my teacher took me backstage to meet the violinist and get his autograph. It was one of the most exciting evenings of my childhood that I am incapable of forgetting.

My mind then traveled to that summer I spent in Europe at my grandparents’ house. My grandfather would take me into his study and close the door. He told me to sit in a chair and close my eyes. He then put on one of his many Mozart records. As I listened to the music I would open one eye slightly to see my grandfather sitting in his chair with his eyes closed luxuriating in the music. My grandfather played the violin when he was young but lost his violin in the war. He never got another one and never played again. Instead, he listened to music records on his phonograph. He was a Mozart freak and he turned me into one.

It was that same summer that I traveled to and spent a weekend in Salzburg, Austria. The visit to the Mozart museum was one of the highlights of that summer.

Coming back to the present I immediately knew who I would ask out on a date to an evening of fine food and classical music. It was time to pass it forward.

I called my daughter and asked her to put her oldest daughter on the phone. I then proceeded to ask my 8-year-old granddaughter out on a date. I think she was a little freaked out at first. She said that no one had ever asked her out on a date before. But she was truly thrilled and she said yes.

So now I have a date for tomorrow evening. And I am really, truly excited! I can’t wait!