CELEBRATING DAVID Continued . . . .

Nine months passed and Dave was still not working in his field.  He was barely able to manage financially by working as a substitute teacher in a private school.  One night, at a get-together with friends, I mentioned Ray's and my concern about Dave's ever getting a job in his field.  My friend, Joan Hoffman, then said that her brother, Harold, was a vice president at Merrill Lynch in Indianapolis.  Since she had met Dave and thought highly of him, she offered to recommend him to Harold.  She suggested he call Harold a few days later.  Dave did so and got an interview.

The next Sunday, after church, Bob Kinney, one of the men at church who knew Dave, asked me about him.  I told Bob about his job situation.  Bob said his cousin, Hugh, was head of personnel at an insurance company in Indianapolis.  Like Joan, he offered to recommend Dave to Hugh and suggested that he contact Hugh in a few days.  Dave got an interview at that company too.  And then he got job offers from both companies!  He chose the insurance company and is working there to this day.

A year later, Dave bought a small ranch house across the street from Sandy and Todd's house.  Now he had a home, he was well thought of at the insurance company, and he was financially secure.  He had everything except a loving relationship with a woman.

And then he met Kelsey.  One evening at 5 pm, Dave was inside the entrance to his office building waiting for a break in a downpour so he could leave the building.  His friend Ann, the company receptionist, was there waiting too, along with her friend Kelsey, another company employee whom Dave did not know.  They chatted briefly and it turned out that Kelsey and Dave were going in the same direction to their cars while Ann was not.  So Kelsey offered to share her umbrella with Dave.  As they walked to their cars, Dave noticed how attractive Kelsey was:  she had long, blonde hair, a sparkling smile and a vivacious manner.

The following morning, as soon as Dave reached his office, he went to the company phone book to look up her number.  Since he had only her first name, he had to go through all 280 names in the directly.  Fortunately, there was only one Kelsey in the company and he found her.  He called and said he'd like to take her to lunch to thank her for sharing her umbrella.  Kelsey, however, wasn't about to go to lunch with someone she didn't know and turned him down.  "Oh no, that's okay" she said, "I was happy to do it".

Next morning, Dave told Ann about his interest in Kelsey, and she suggested he try again.  This time he got no answer and no outgoing message on her answering machine.  So he gave Ann his business card, with a note on the back to Kelsey, and asked her to pass it on to Kelsey.  When Kelsey got the card, she was impressed with Dave's persistence and decided to find out something about him.  She talked to Ann and another friend of hers, who worked in Dave's department, asking about him.  They both told her he was a hard worker and well liked at the company.  Then SHE called Dave and invited HIM to lunch.

Dave and Kelsey began to date.  Kelsey was taken with this slim six-footer with the sandy-blonde hair and bright, blue eyes.  With his ready smile and easy manner, she found him unlike the other young men she had known.  He was a listener as well as a talker, his mood was upbeat, and his manner sincere.  His deformed hand and odd gait didn't seem to matter.  After a while, Kelsey and her cat, Katie, moved into Dave' house.

On June 6, 1998, our family and Kelsey's came to Indianapolis to celebrate the marriage of this special young man and his beautiful bride.  Ray had always been confident that someone would love and appreciate our Dave, but I wasn't so certain.  On June 6th, I knew he was right - and I've known it ever since.


Copyright 1999 Lucena K. Winberg

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