the beginning

It's probably the best place to start.  Yes?
Go back to a time a little over two years ago.
I was just out of a long relationship that was never very good for me.
I was 19.  Alone.  And loving life.
I went to a shoe party and my aunt asked me if she could set me up with a guy she works with.
Apparently he thought I was good lookin' and kept asking when he could call her his aunt.
He just likes to tease her.  He'd never date someone eight years younger than him.  She didn't know.
He was a red head.  That's all I needed to know.  I was in.
Monday she told him the good news.  He was thrilled.  Not.
He freaked out a little.
He called his mom and told her he didn't know what to do.  She's a genius.
She told him, "Just take her out once.  Be nice.  Then never talk to her again."
That way, nobodies feelings got hurt.  Genius.

I asked if he was going to call or text so I knew what to expect.
I didn't think she'd really ask him.  Holy embarrass me.
He said he'd send carrier pigeons.  I'm afraid of birds.
That Tuesday we talked on the phone for the first time and made plans to get together that Friday.
Friday the 13th.
I thanked him for not sending the pigeons.
He explained that he underestimated the difficulty level of training birds.
We text for the few days in between and we both laughed a lot.
He wasn't supposed to like me though.  He thought about cancelling because he was starting to like me.
Friday I got ready and he knocked on my door.
"Hi Tara."  "Ugh... it's Kara."  "Really?  I think your aunt said Tara."  "I'm pretty sure she didn't."
Waiting in the truck was a stuffed bird.  How sweet :-)
(After moving in, I found a bag of stuffed birds.  He went from store to store trying to find the perfect one.)