He is tall, maybe six feet four, six feet five, lantern-jawed, and he rarely speaks, so the guys on the track team nickname him Lurch after the butler on The Addams Family. I can’t imagine why he wants to talk with me, but he has cornered me in the locker room after practice.
“I want to ask a favor of you,” he says, looking around to make sure no one is listening.
Oh no, I think untying my shoes.
“We’re going to the Colonial Relays this weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia.”
“Yeah?”
“William and Mary is located in Williamsburg, and it just so happens my sister is a student there. She asked me to fix her up with one of the guys in the team. Would you go out with my sister Saturday night?”
A calmness, a sense that this will work out well, comes over me, and I am surprised to hear myself answer immediately, “Sure.”
He smiles.
“One question. Why did you choose me?”
“Because I think you have qualities she would like. You’re smart, polite, and I feel I can trust you to act like a gentleman with my sister.”
Every other time someone has wanted to fix me up on a date, my first reaction is to ask, “What does she look like? Do you have a picture? What is she like?” But I feel assured that this will go well, and I reaffirm, “I’d be happy to go out with your sister.”
Word rockets around the track team of my impending date, and harassment is relentless on the trip down to Williamsburg. They approach my seat, bend over, and whisper so Lurch can’t hear.
“I hear that although she only has two teeth, they’re attractive – both of them.”
“I hear that the hump on her back isn’t that bad. And, you’ll be facing her most of the night, so you won’t notice.”
“I hear that for a girl with only one leg, she’s a pretty good dancer.”
“I hear that the surgery to remove the extra head she was born with went really well. She wears a lot of turtlenecks, so you really can’t tell.”
“You know the story of Beauty and the Beast? Well, in this story, you’re the beauty.”
We arrive on campus, check into our rooms, and have dinner. As we walk to the party to meet Lurch’s sister, the guys behind me are elbowing each other, gleefully anticipating a horrible evening for me. We enter the party, and the scene is the same as my campus – Motown is playing on the stereo; guys in close–cropped Ivy League haircuts wearing either Madras plaid or blue button-down collar Oxford shirts and khaki pants; girls in tight sweaters and skirts. It’s the late 1960s, and hemlines are creeping up.
Lurch scans the room. His eyes light up, and he waves. Waving back is a smiling is 5-foot 9-inch, gorgeous young woman, long dark hair, a sensational figure, and a knockout smile. Please let this be her.
We walk across the room. “John, I’d like you to meet my sister.”
We shake hands. I don’t know if I’m locked in a stupid grin because she is so fantastic or because of the shock I see on the faces of my teammates. She’s warm, personable, and easy to talk with. A slow song plays.
“Would you like to dance?”
“I’d love to.”
The look on her face is encouraging. She’s either a great actress, or she likes her brother’s choice for her date tonight. As we dance, conversation flows easily. She is smart, funny, and she laughs at my attempts at humor. At one point, she puts her hand on my forearm to balance herself, she is laughing so hard. I’m doing well. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the envy on the faces of the guys who mocked me and the disbelief that Lurch could have such a fabulous sister.
The evening is enjoyable but ends all too quickly. We have a curfew because of the meet the next day. We thank each other for an enjoyable evening. For most of my life, I have been a conscious decision maker, carefully analyzing pros and cons before making up my mind. But sometimes it pays to just trust your instincts. I said yes, feeling that everything would work out well, and it did. Whenever I hear the words College of William and Mary, I smile, thinking of that night. Sometimes it’s better not to overthink things and just do what feels right.