California Cafe

It is a typical June morning for San Jose. Beautiful weather, work is exciting but repetitive. Typical morning. I receive a text from my girlfriend, “We are over. I’m sure you feel hurt, but time will pass and it will be less. I am not the best person for you. You will also see that in time. We had some good times; let us not make them more or less than they were. We each grew in different ways, for the better I believe.”

Maybe not so typical a morning. Damn.

Sitting there I ponder what to do next. I decide out of the blue to go on a dating site, just to see what is out there. I am on for only 15 minutes and I remember how much I hate dating sites. Too much deception, hidden issues, and false agendas. This time was different though. In those 15 minutes I happen to come across a woman, Evangeline, who caught my eye in more than one way. I decide what the hell and reach out to her. She responds, yay!!! I am thinking “Alright this is good!!" We message back and forth for a couple of minutes, exchange real phone numbers and I quickly exit the dating site, never to venture there again.

Over the next few weeks, as I nurse my broken heart back from the recent debacle, Evangeline and I converse many times. By phone, by text by email. There is something different here, Evangeline makes me stand up and take notice, and I have not even met her yet. She is different from any previous woman I have been with. I tell myself it is too soon, but I also know fate will not wait, opportunities arise, and timing is everything. Choose your preferred hackneyed cliché but I was going to take a chance and see if there was a there there.

We decide to meet on Sunday the 15^th of July for breakfast at a local eatery in a town near our homes. I arrive a few minutes early hoping to catch a glimpse of her when she walks up. Online dating horror stories had me a little spooked that maybe this was too good to be true. I am sitting on a bench outside the restaurant when I see her in the parking lot. My heart skips a beat. This beautiful ‘tall drink of water’ is walking towards me and smiling the biggest brightest smile I have ever seen. She later told me she had the same reaction when she saw me sitting there. Thinking to herself, ‘Oh My’. Let me tell you, it does wonders to your heart when the woman you come to love, tells you she fell for you the first moment she saw you.

I do not remember walking into the restaurant, I was nervous to say the least. Not only did we walk in, we got a table by the window. We sat enjoying breakfast talking away the hour or so that we were there. A really really enjoyable meal. Easy banter many many topics. After finishing the meal, we were walking to her car and I was thinking I really wanted to see her again and as soon as possible. But...how was I going to ask her? I am shy when it comes to making the next move and Evangeline was making my heart beat in such a manner that I could barely focus on walking let alone talking.

As we stood there by her beautiful convertible, I lean in for a quick kiss. A quick peck on the lips. I could handle that without my shaky knees giving me away. I lean in and she leans into me, my heart skips a beat again. As we pull back, she looks at me in surprise and says she must have bitten me. I ask why, I was still a little numb, maybe numb is the wrong description, all my nerves were tingling, and she says there is a trace of blood on my lip. I reach up and touch my lip and look at it and sure enough I have a small smear of blood on my finger. I look at her and she looks mortified. She apologizes saying it was completely by accident. I assure her It does not hurt. Later, I would tell anyone that would listen that she was just marking me as her own.

Definitely not a typical morning or date.

We both manage to get in our separate cars and drive off. I was still in a daze and do not remember walking to my car. My mind was spinning, what just happened? Did I just meet my true love? After I started to drive away, I had this incredible urge to continue the date. Though I was scared I would ruin it, thinking I needed to turn chicken shit into chicken salad, I called Evangeline and asked her if we could meet somewhere and keep talking. Thankfully, she had been thinking the same thing, who would have thunk? She gives me her address. I drive straight there.

She meets me at the door smiling, my knees go weak again. A quick tour and then off to the back yard. We drink margaritas, chat about everything under the sun, including exes. The conversation flows very easily. We have the same goals, the same desires, the same wants in life. It is amazing how much we have in common. My previous heart break suddenly seemed so far in the past and so insignificant. She would say we talked about my ex way too often over the next couple of months but through it all she stood by my side. I know, I began to fall in love with Evangeline on that first date; might have been the first time I saw her walking towards me in the parking lot. Hot, intelligent, funny, Tall drink of water.

Three plus years later I was searching for a special gift for Evangeline for her birthday, something that would demonstrate how much I treasured her and our time together. I had this idea, a crazy but wonderful idea. I searched on Etsy for a sterling silver bracelet, one that I could get engraved. I then went on line and looked for the exact engraving I needed. I found exactly what I was looking for and bought the bracelet and had it engraved with - 37° 13' 22.9368'' N 121° 58' 52.6836'' W. It was supposed to be a birthday present, but I got so excited I gave it to her early. I made a riddle out of it. She had to hunt down what the the numbers represented. It didn't take her long to discover that those are the exact longitude and latitude coordinates for California Cafe, the restaurant of our first date. She ended up wearing that bracelet often including during our engagement photo shoot. It made me so happy to be able to see the joy she got receiving a gift with such meaning to both of us. A very special day and a very special place.

Through good times and bad times, we stayed together, and our love grew. On the 5th anniversary of that first date, Evangeline walked down the aisle, escorted by her twin brother. Surrounded by my best friends, my son, and my brother, I remember smiling so hard that my whole face hurt, but my knees were not shaky this time. We became husband and wife.

After the service, I thanked everyone present telling them that their friendship, camaraderie, and love would leave footprints in our hearts forever. I looked at her and said my destiny was to stand by her side for the rest of my life. Man, I love this woman with all my heart.

There are very few days in my life that I can say compare to how happy I was on that day. That was the best day of my life.