Courtship

Across the street from the Methodist church, a new couple moved in......Mike and Bev...they were a very charismatic couple that kids naturally gravitated to......they were Christians, and often let young people live with them as well as they had several of their own children...Mike was a musician and a pastor, played the guitar and there was always lots of praise and singing in their home....much joy and laughter
Kay and I would visit occasionally and met a lot of new people.....went to a few Bible studies there too and met a guy who would lead the studies frequently....I thought he was a older guy, soft spoken and good looking with blue eyes and blond hair. He was really on fire for the Lord and spoke with strong conviction...I remember he and Bev were talking about a trip he was going on and she asked if Sharon was going with him....he said no, not this time..I thought Sharon may have
been his wife or girlfriend and didn't think anything more about it.
EASTER
I was in the church choir and we rehearsed for weeks on the Easter Cantata .....I and an older man had solos, I remember our voices sounded good together, his was a deep older baritone and I am a alto soprano .....my part was of John the Baptist..."A voice calling in the wilderness..prepare ye the way of the Lord'...
Easter Sunday morning, the cantata was going well, I got up to do my solo, was singing, looking across the congregation and saw the same young man watching me from a back pew. Rather
surprised as he didn't normally go to our church, I continued and finished my piece.
After church, as I was walking to my car, he (Alan) approached and told me how much he enjoyed the cantata and my singing....that conversation lasted about 3 hours..we just clicked and when I went home (finally) I felt like I had known him all my life.I discovered Sharon was his sister! Also discovered that he had been at all the meetings, Kings Hacienda, Royal Palms, the parade, the bonfire, the free concerts, etc. the whole time but we had never met.
He started going to the Methodist church as did Mike, Bev and their family...also Lawrence and Alice, Beverly's parents.
We saw each other at the church often but Alan never asked me out......found out later he was just a shy person around girls.....Alice would encourage him to sit by me as she knew he liked me...this went on for some time....until he finally asked me to a musical concert at the college..he pulled up in a Cadillac....he had borrowed it from Mike.....and also brought along Mikes teenage daughter (!!) We 3 went and had a nice time....this was an afternoon concert.....after that first
"date" we would go out more often (without the teenage chaperon), usually to concerts, Bible study, take drives and talk, an
occasional movie....once we went to the zoo.....no kisses but an occasional hug...
finally after 3 months as we were saying good night at my parents house ( I still lived at home) as he stood looking at me for a period of time, I just leaned over and kissed him....(figured enough is enough)...he was surprised but kissed back...and left.
The next day, I was teased but told Mike and Bev what had happened and they laughing teased
Alan about it...after that incident, he started coming over every night to our house, just to hang
out, watch TV and talk....we'd go out occasionally but it was a quiet courtship....he was 23 and I was 22 at the time.......
Then one Sunday evening, after church, he proposed on a full moon outside a little guest house he had rented down the street from my parents house. I told him" I'd think about it", literally ran home and talked to my mother. Both of my parents liked Alan, but wanted (of course) to be sure he was the right person for me.......we prayed about it, and the next afternoon, when he
came over as he always did, I told him, "Yes!"