The Delta House

Last week, I watched part of a series on the History Channel called 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America. The premise of the series is that the course of this country has been changed in some way by events that occurred on these particular ten days. Though I do not necessarily agree that these are the most significant 10 days, it would be hard to argue that they didn't greatly influence the culture and landscape of the America that we know today.

It made me think of significant days in my life, and the effect that they have had on the person I am today. I will post about a different one each day this week as the 5 Days That Unexpectedly Changed Flounder.

December 26, 1994 – The Phone Call

I was home from college for the holidays and was looking to get in as much fun and family time as I could before heading back on Dec 27th. I had spent the night before, Christmas night, at Maloney's with my friends and had met a girl. She was a friend of friend, and we hit it off pretty well.

While talking to her, I excused myself and went to the bathroom, after which I bumped into a female friend that I hadn't seen in quite a while. She seemed a little sad and asked me if I would go outside and talk to her so I did. She confided in me that on Christmas Eve, she had been date raped, and that no one else knew. She would not tell me who the guy was because she knew that I probably would have kicked his ass and gotten myself in trouble. I walked her home, talked some more, and tucked her into bed.

I went back to Maloney's around 3 hours after I had left and several of my friends were still there, including the new girl. We all left there and went uptown to the 24 hour Irish Pub where we ate some food and had a few Black & Tans. My buddy Tom was interested in the new girl, so I tried to hook him up. I figured that 48 hours from then I would be back at college and had no interest in any kind of long distance relationship, especially with a girl I had just met.

When we all left the bar around 5am, I walked the new girl and our mutual friend to their car and said goodnight. New girl handed me a napkin with her phone number on it, and told me to give her a call next time I was back in Jersey. I put the napkin in my pocket and drove Tom home.

The next night, I was sitting around in my boxers trying to figure out what to do for the night. I was going to call my cousin Dean in hopes of getting together for a few beers. Dean is a professional surfer based out of San Diego, but he is always traveling all over the world, and we hadn't seen each other in years. His brother Dazer, a bartender at Maloney's, told me he was in town for the holidays. Hanging out with my cousin is always fun because he attracts all the hotties and, because he is a local celebrity, he never has to pay for drinks.

Then I saw the napkin.

I called the new girl, and midway through our first phone conversation, she hung up on me. It wasn't anything that I said or did, as I later discovered. It was because she had to vomit. See, she had a stomach virus and was in bed for the night. She called me back and apologized and we talked a little more. Eventually, she invited me to bring some videos over and hang out.

I stopped at the video store and rented Grumpy Old Men and Speed. Then I walked next door to CVS and picked up the following: Mouthwash, Pepto Bismol, The Firm in paperback, three packs of Juicy Fruit and a gift bag. OK, it wasn't flowers, but they were some very useful items for someone with a stomach virus.

I arrived at her apartment, watched Grumpy Old Men, and we laughed our asses off. Between movies, we talked. A lot. We kissed a little too. We really connected. Then I had to leave.

The next night, I was back at school. We kept in touch and talked nearly every night. I never did catch that stomach virus, but she sent me a care package with a balloon just in case. Two months later, she came down to visit for her birthday and Valentine's Day. I drove back to Jersey a couple of times to surprise her, and then in July, she moved to be with me. She left a pretty good job as a 911 operator, and took a job cleaning houses. To be with me.

On September 27, 1997, we were married in a small ceremony on a farm near Lancaster, PA. We were recently blessed with our first child.

All because of the phone call that I didn't make.