Sunday Blog for February 20, 2022

Posting the blog for Sunday, February 20 early.


Some people have asked me how Stacey and I met. It was March of 2017 and our common friend Judy had arranged for a bunch of us to get together at Taylor's Nightclub on Monroe Avenue to see the band Hall Pass. When I arrived, I texted to Judy that I was there. As I was standing near the front entrance looking for Judy, Stacey walked up to me and said, “Judy is in the back talking with someone she told me to come out and look for a tall guy named Paul.” I said, “Well that's me!” So as a group we all had a fun evening dancing and listening to the band.


I met her on a few other occasions that spring. One event that stands out to me was an 80s night at Burgundy Basin Inn. That night that I noticed that Stacey stayed on the dance floor longer than most other people. I was impressed that she had what I called “dancing stamina.” Another occasion that stands out to me is when Stacey and a few other friends came to Shortsville to see me in a parade. We stayed that evening to see the band The Dean's List play at the carnival. The ground was soggy from a lot of rain, and we remember that night as the night we danced barefoot in the mud.


Both of us were in relationships at the time, and by coincidence both of those relationships ended the same weekend. I was not ready to date anyone else yet. Stacey and I quickly became good friends, dancing and hanging out a lot together that summer. I was scheduled to go on a cruise in August. While I was on the cruise, Stacey sent me messages every day. I still felt like I wasn't ready for a relationship during the first part of the cruise.


A notable event happened about halfway through the cruise when I was in the country of Estonia. While on an excursion, the tour guide pointed out something called the Kissing Statue. It's a statue in a park of a man and a woman in an embrace and kissing. I took a selfie with it and posted it on Facebook with the caption, “I wonder what good fortunes this statue will bring to me!” It was meant to be in jest.


But in retrospect, I realized that shortly after I saw that statue, I started thinking that maybe I should pay more attention to Stacey. Just before I came home she sent me a message saying she was going to greet me at my apartment and give me a big hug and kiss. After I got home and saw her arrive, I said, “Well I'm yours if you want me.” She gave me a big hug and a kiss and we have been together ever since!



I will end this week with the poem that I wrote for my proposal to her in 2018:


Proposal


When we first met dancing

We weren’t thinking of romancing

Our friendship grew stronger

As our time together became longer

It meant a lot to me when you said

“When I’m with you I can just be myself”

I’ve grown very fond of you

And fallen in a love that’s true

The time is now right

A new beginning in sight

I now ask of thee

Will you marry me?


(Stacey said “Yes!”)


See you again on Sunday, February 27!