Mommy, you should do those Date Things.

“It seems so long before a wedding.”

He’s referring to weddings in general. Not especially mine, since there is no wedding on my horizon. I say this to the precious few of you who wait for a grand announcement and watch for clues that point to a man in my life.

This particular story: not about me.

“Well, yes, it can be a long time. There can be a lot to do to make a wedding happen.”

(Plus, your dad and I dated for about 88 days before we got engaged, so a longer engagement was wise for us… though I would never in my life like to do that again.)

(Especially now that I know what I’m missing in all that waiting. Nope. Never again, if I can help it.)

“So, how does all that work, Mommy? What takes so long?”

“Well, first, a boy and a girl – or a man and woman – become good friends, and they decide they might like to spend more time together. So then they go on a date, where they have lots of conversation and do something fun together. And if it goes well, then they go on another date. And another one after that.”

“You should do that, Mommy. Those ‘date’ things.”

Well, yes, thank you. And I do. You just don’t know everything in the world.

“And then when they’ve had lots of dates and lots of time together, they might decide they want to spend more time together, maybe everyday for the rest of their lives. And that’s when the man goes shopping for a diamond ring, and he gives it to his girl when he asks her to marry him.”

Tuck pulled his Fedora down over his face.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

“This is getting embarrassing. Please stop.”

“Really?”

“Stop looking at me while you’re talking about this.”

“Can I keep talking and stop looking at you?”

“No. Just stop.”

Okay. But we’re just getting to the good parts.