How I Met Serach, Part XII: The Big Bump and Fun Dates

Serach and I met five years ago tonight for the first time. People often think five years isn't a whole lot - trust me, it's a whole lot. Happy Anniversary! :)

This is Part XII of a series about how I proposed to Serach. Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, and Part IV is here, Part V is here, Part VI is here, Part VII is here, Part VIII is here. Part IX is here. Part X is here, Part XI is here. Or, you could simply use the dropdown menu on the right side of the blog or this link right here titled "How I Met Serach".

After our third really great date, I debated whether to tell my parents that I was seeing someone. They were in Cleveland, I was in Queens, and while I thought it had a lot of potential (okay, a LOT of potential)... it was still only three dates, I was 20 years old, and they might get hyped up about it for no reason. On the other hand, they'd probably want to know, if it were turning serious and if I was serious about it. So what did I do?

I called my sister, of course.

Ez: Soo... I'm dating this girl, we've gone out a few times, I really like her... blah blah blah... should I tell Mom and Dad?

Vervel: You've gone out three times, and you're 20. Are you going to tell them every time you're dating a girl just in case? Wait until it's more serious, then tell them. They'll just drive you nuts otherwise.

Ez: Okay, I hear ya. Thanks!

Now, I happen to think this was the right advice, and that's why I followed it. This was probably a bad idea... and by probably, I mean cross-continental calls in the middle of the night bad. However, we'll get back to this.

Meanwhile, Serach and I continued dating. I'd often come after night seder to the city, we'd go out in the city, she'd stay at Touro, while I stayed at my friend JB in YU or shlep back at 2-3am to Queens. I can still recall what we did on most of our dates: On our fourth (?) date, we went to Toys 'R Us, had a good time there, bought a hot pink motion-sensing monkey with purple polka dots for Jon, the guy we met through, and walked around midtown a bit. Some friends had recommended trying a comedy club, so we headed toward the Village and went to one.

Advice to daters: DO NOT DO THIS! (Except perhaps a clean improv show.) Now, we can appreciate a funny joke, even if it's a little dirty... but some comedy shows are just gross. It seemed to us that the better the comedian, the less they relied on dirty jokes; there was one guy who was getting booed for a couple minutes, and impressively stopped; paused; and started a whole new (and cleaner) sketch, and got some nice applause at the end. We also had a couple of awkward moments, sitting in a raised front corner away from the stage, with our bags next to us on the bench. At one point, we suddenly see Serach's bag start moving and cries of "OOO OOO OOO AAA AAA AAA!!!" coming from it, getting us really strange looks from people nearby. The monkey had apparently been moved, and started squawking like mad. Of course, we didn't yet know how to shut it off, and moving it too much just made it start again. Finally we flipped the switch and shut it up, but it had gotten attention. A lady who'd noticed was doing the next (dirty) routine, and of course chose us to ask questions to:

Lady: Aw, look at that cute couple. How long you guys been dating?
Us: Almost a month.
Lady: That's nice... are you sleeping together yet?
Us: Er... no.
Lady: Why not?

...etc. I should note that this was the cleanest bit of her performance. I can't recall what our fifth date was, though perhaps that was the time we were freezing like crazy and swiped our Metrocards to hang out in the much warmer subway station - best cheap date - before heading back up to a 24-hour cafe and getting cup after cup of hot tea. We also had a really nice date around Christmas time in Rockefeller Center, checking out the incredibly cool ice sculptures, the lit up area, the tree (which was actually nice that year), and whatever else was there. It's also nice to see so many people having a fun time ice skating even if you aren't interested yourself.

Next up: Maddame Tuassad's and The Big Bump continued...

Ezzie: I'm writing the story as I remember it, and unfortunately that sometimes results in skipping some details. When I remember them, I'll try to fill them in; possibly in the comments, possibly in the posts if it won't make it too disjointed. If anything is unclear or you have any questions, feel free to ask! Serach won't admit it, but she's been reading the story [and lately, other posts, too!] - maybe she'll fill in some of the details and her perspective at some point. I'm still hoping. :)