By Bob.
In the summer of 2018, Becky and I both ended up in a new writing group starting at the Champlin library. Neither of us were enjoying the group because the other two or three writers weren’t likable and neither was their writing. Becky cut out to look for a different group. Fortunately, the group members had shared emails. On Sep. 4, 2018, Becky received this email from me, along with a photo of me, in case she didn’t know who I was:
Hi,
I'm Bob Miller from the Champlin Writers group.Do you remember me?
I stopped going to the group months ago.I was wondering if you found a diff writing group?
Bob
Becky replied immediately to tell me about the Night Writers group that met in Maple Grove. Shortly after, I started attending that writing group. And we both attended it for two years until it was dropped b/c of Covid in 2020.
From Sep, 2018 until about March 2020, we sat across from each other in the writing group. And we attended a few social events with the Night Writers. But we never really had a one-on-one conversation. We were just acquaintances.
However, I did learn some things about Becky: She was the best writer in the group. She always gave great, helpful critiques about my writing, and she got my humor. I also knew she was a conservative Christian, and laughed easily.
After being out of the writing group for about a year, I sent Becky an email in Feb.3,, 2021, to invite her to my Anti-Super Bowl party. She couldn’t make it. Oh well. Then I had another party in July, I invited Becky to a bonfire party at my house. She couldn’t make it, BUT… she gave an enthusiastic “I wish I could, let’s get together another time” response. She mentioned she was attending Revive Church (where Nate is a pastor, and Bill, Mel, and JB attend.) So we agreed to meet the next Sunday, but…
That was the Sunday that Dad had medical issues and ended up in the hospital. When Becky found me in the church lobby, I was on the phone with Mom. I told Becky about Dad, asked for prayers and left. I did a few followup texts with Becky to let her know Dad was OK.
Date #1? Call it what you want, we made plans to go to an outdoor concert in Coon Rapids where some of my friends from the King’s Ranch (Christian group) were attending. Finally, we were able to meet for the first time since the writing group. Although the band was great, the highlight of the evening for both of us was our non-stop conversation and instant connection. Like good friends who hadn’t seen each other in a year, we had more things to talk about than time allowed.
Date #2! Not wanting to wait an entire week to see Becky again, I invited her to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. What did we eat? I don’t remember. But I do remember the continuous-easy-flowing conversation that held our attention for the entire evening. Lots of fun laughs while sharing stories.
Date #3! So, we made plans to meet again the next week at another outdoor concert in Elk River. Who was the band? I don’t remember! Were any of my other friends from the King’s Ranch there? Yes, but I never talked with any of them. Becky and I really connected that night and paid little attention to the music. The concert was just background noise for the main even which was discovering how much we enjoyed talking with each other.
After that, both of us enthusiastically made plans to get together as often as possible for various events: dinner, church, visiting her relatives, walks, game night at my house. I took two trips in August, and Becky took one. But that didn’t stop us from texting frequently to share our activities. And, when I got sick with the flu in early September, Becky brought me a bag of vitamins and health supplements to help me get healthy sooner.
It didn’t take long for us to understand that we shared a connection. Every date and activity together was a hilarious discussion filled with laughter and many shared interests.