52 Blessings—Calvin

In continuing on with the comments to 52 Blessings—Ande, it's Calvin’s turn . . .

He thinks he's funny. He's trying to tell me he's broke.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I went on an animal science field trip through Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma. It was in the spring and we traveled in a big, blue college van. One day while I was sitting in the middle seat, some of the girls in the back seat were talking about a man named Calvin Payne. The conversation was for all to hear. I heard bits and pieces of it—enough to know that a couple of the girls had a crush on him.

The next fall when college started up again, my roommates and I attended an animal science club meeting. Later that afternoon when I walked into our apartment my two roommates were discussing a man named Calvin Payne that was at the meeting. Since he was the one conducting, they asked me if I had seen him. I said, “Oh. Is that who that was? Well, let me tell you girls, I’ve heard of him. He’s been married, divorced, got two kids and he’s too much for us to handle” and then I headed back out the door to another class.

Not two days later, Calvin called and asked me out on a date. I had two thoughts running through my head while we talked on the phone:

One: “Just because someone says they are in your class doesn’t mean you can trust them.” (That was the sum total of my mother’s advice to me before I left for college.)

Two: “If you tell him no you’ll never get asked out by another guy in the animal science department. One no will end all your chances.”

So, with severe trepidation I said I’d love to go with him to the animal science activity later in the week.

Now here is where our story differs. Calvin swears he told me he had a meeting and that he might be a few minutes late; I swear he never mentioned it. Regardless of who swears the best, here is how I remember it:

The night came for Calvin to pick me up. I’d overcome most of my initial fears because a bigger one replaced it: What if this was just a joke and he planned to set me up?

He didn’t come at 7:30. He didn’t come at 7:33. At 7:35 I was pretty sure I was the brunt of the joke and at 7:36 asked one of my roommates to drop me off at the activity. We were playing volleyball and I was comfortable playing, so I joined in the game and hoped no one else knew of the set up.

At 7:38 Calvin got to our apartment. My other roommate opened the door and he asked her if I was ready. She told him I wasn’t there. He thought he’d been stood-up. He left as deflated as I’d left three minutes earlier. He also decided to go to the activity anyway.

When I saw Calvin come into the activity I didn’t know what to do. He sat on the sidelines and visited with some of the other guys in the animal science department while I continued to play. But a game can’t last forever. When it had ended, I decided the best thing to do was to hit the situation in the head—if he’d set me up he’d know I didn’t break that easily, if he hadn’t then I’d repair the damage. I waited 'til the other men left and then spoke to him.

He was such a gentleman. I don’t remember what was said, but we both realized it was a misunderstanding and he offered to take me home.

Now that the fear of being stood up was resolved, my earlier fears resurfaced. What if he was too much for me to handle? Once inside the car, I kept my hand on the door handle with the idea that if he turned right to go to the lake (where I’d been warned baaaaad things happened) then I’d jump out. I remembered those girls in the van saying he was older and so I was sure I could outrun him if I needed to. While I was quietly surveying my situation, he just visited and asked me questions. After we’d driven a few blocks he offered to take me to Baskin Robbins. I will always love Baskin Robbins. They could go down to offering only two flavors and I’d still love them because Baskin Robbins can freeze even fear. They were also the opposite direction of the lake and so instead of turning right, he turned left. I could finally take my hand off the door handle.

Calvin and I visited freely. By the end of the evening, I knew I’d found a new friend. In fact, when my roommates asked me how the date went I said, “I don’t know if anything will ever come of it, I don’t know if he’ll ever even ask me out again, but I do know that I just found a great friend.”

He did ask me out again. And again. And again. And to this day, one of the things I most appreciate about him is his friendship. I am deeply thankful for the blessing of Calvin and grateful to our Father in Heaven for helping us in our relationship.