I had been totally up front with her. But still, you never know.
There’s something about witty banter that can’t be faked. It’s that quality that you can’t buy, learn, nip, tuck — it’s simply there or it’s not. As I swam through the shallow waters of the online dating pool, I could always tell within a few messages if she possessed this sought after, extremely attractive quality. Most times it was a quick Simon Cowell dismissal. That is until the day that my luck changed in December 2016.
I need to go back a few months before I received a simple message that changed my life. In early November, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years! Being a dedicated, lifelong fan, it was without a doubt one of the happiest days of my life! So, of course when it came time to choose a username for my online dating profile, I went with “CubsWinKevin.”
Back to that message. In early December, I received a congratulatory message on the Cubs title from a beautiful blonde with blue eyes! Not only was I thrilled, she was a Cleveland Indians fan too, which meant she was already a better person than me.
We started messaging every few days, which led to texting every few days. Each time, a ping pong battle of back and forth banter broke out! I loved every minute. As my nerves grew, wondering when we would meet in person, I took a swing for the fences. I had received tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld for Christmas and hadn’t yet decided who would be my guest — until that moment.
Who in their right mind goes to see a comedic god for a first date? And let’s not forget the one hour, one way drive and the fact that it would be me, her, and my caregiver! None of this seemed odd at the time, as I had been totally upfront from the beginning about the ALS factor.
We planned to meet in the Cracker Barrel parking lot near the interstate so we could head to Tampa. Sure, all of this sounds like a DateLine special — Ohio Woman Falls for Cracker Barrel Bandit — but this is how it actually happened. We continued joking about the premise of our first date…me telling her not to mind the rope and rubber gloves on the floor…
Next to the Chicago Cubs, comedy, and especially that from Jerry Seinfeld, is definitely one of my favorite past times. Needless to say, his humor made the night fly by almost too quickly! Our ride to and from the show were, to no surprise, the dreaded “awkward silence” free. That’s pretty much been the case for nearly four years. I married her in January 2017, exactly one year from our first date.