Book Entry 68: 1965 Our Second Date

The night of our first date Larry picked me up at the house I had been raised in since I was born.  During the following week our house was moved out to the road and foundation work began on our new house.  Mom was finally getting the house dad had promised her when they moved to that location!

My second date with Larry was the next weekend.  I hadn’t mentioned to Larry we were building a new house.  When he pulled into the driveway to get me there was a huge hole where our giant almond tree had been, a pile of  dirt and 2 x 4’s where our house had been, and our house was on stilts out by the road.  I don’t know what his first thoughts were when he saw all the changes but he kindly made his way through the mess to our door.  We had a good laugh at the way everything looked.  

  

We went to see Billy Graham who was speaking at the fairgrounds in Turlock.  I had seen Billy Graham on television and was delighted to now see him in person.  As always the sermon was good, the music was wonderful, and many people went forward when the invitation was given. 

It was nice to sit through the service with someone I knew believed everything Pastor Graham was saying, who bowed his head during prayer, and who was touched as we witnessed people accepting Christ as their Savior.  I felt as if I’d known Larry for a long time.

We went to Latifs for a “6 x 6” hamburger and a shake again.  We sat in the same booth we had used the week before, way in the back, by the stairs.  When we had finished eating neither of us wanted to leave.  Larry was playing with the salt shaker.  He took the lid off and gently placed it back on the shaker without screwing it on tight.  He looked at me to get a reaction.  I told him he was going to ruin some persons dinner.  I expected him to tighten the lid on right away but he just left it sitting there.  I think he was waiting to see if I’d fix it.  I honestly can’t remember if either of fixed it or not.  I sure hope we did!

Later that night he proposed.   I was shocked!  It was only our second date!    I told him, “No, you can’t ask me that!”  I thought I was all grown up, like all teenagers do, but I had enough sense to know I shouldn’t be accepting a proposal yet.  On the other hand, when Doug asked me out for the following weekend I declined the invitation.  I never dated anyone again except Larry.