The Date
or
The Key to Successful first Dates
A Work of Fiction by Graystone
purething was anxious. It had been a long time since he went out on a date. His wife had passed away almost twenty years earlier, she had contracted AIDS from a transfusion received after an auto accident, and he still felt the slightest twitch of guilt as he thought about this and his feeling that he was betraying her.
A native of Nigeria, she had been one of the few women in her village to obtain more than a rudimentary education. Working closely with a United Church mission in Nigeria she had quickly been unofficially adopted because of her bright and energetic nature. With the missions help she had obtained the funds and papers to go to England where she completed several years of schooling, finishing with a Masters in Philosophy.
He had met her while travelling in London and had fallen deeply in love. She too had been smitten but refused to accept his proposal of marriage. Parting amicably she returned to Nigeria. purething, deeply influenced by the Living Testament of his wife's belief became a United Church Member. Two years later he arrived in Nigeria working for another United Church mission, and their chance meeting caused their love to rekindle, she had returned to Canada with him several months later, as his wife.
The accident hadn't been real serious but his wife, pregnant at the time with their second child had received transfusions to replace lost blood. The baby had been diagnosed first and then his wife. The baby had died first and then his wife.
It was during this time that he met someone at the hospital chapel who became a close male friend and was eventually his primary support through the tragic years of his wife's illness and death, offering him, friendship and understanding, even financial aid when things got really tough and he had started drinking. The support of this friend and the sense of community that he felt with this fellow Christian became the redeeming feature of his day to day existence and was likely the only reason he wasn't warming a plot of ground beside his wife. Even in light of their presence in the same area of the hospital it never occurred to purething that this man might be their for the same reason he was, a partner dying of AIDS. He laughed wryly thinking about the long past incidents his coming date brought to mind. The intervening years had proven fair to purething, he worked and led a quiet life, occasionally venturing out to weekly church meetings or brown bag luncheons but mostly keeping to himself. Recently he had felt the need for something more in his life. He had discussed it with his minister and she had told him that his inner promptings on this type of matter were his surest guide, she instructed him to pray and Ask God and he would receive the assurances he needed. He decided he wanted to reach out again, to share the beautiful world God had given him with someone else. purething went to "As Expected" a local computer dating firm in his city. After several interviews and questionnaires they had found him the perfect date, a woman named "Jane Hafker", he looked forward, nervously apprehensive
Dear Father
is purething a Christian ?
is purething going to have a memorable evening ?
what should he keep in mind as the evening unfolds ?
Will purething marry Jane ?
Will Jane want to adopt purethings daughter, daughterthing ? |
