15 MAY 05: KISS AND SAY GOODBYE

The sermon at church this weekend was about angels - and the preacher said the Bible has NO cases where angels manifest themselves as women. Now I have to reassess this marriage situation all over again....

I'm thinking about "that situation" again, because today marks ten years since a farewell evening with the last woman I seriously dreamed of marrying. She'd become engaged only a few weeks before - and no, I did NOT try to talk her out of it. Jerry Springer wasn't showing that sort of thing back then, to give me ideas.

I met Lyanne on the job in Atlanta, and became quite smitten with her. When she was transferred to New York, we kept in touch by computer messages. I even surprised her with flower orders to her office a few times. How many times she passed them on to the cleaning lady, I may never know....

Twice I flew to New York, hoping to win Lyanne over - but she only wanted friendship with me, and nothing more. The last time she made that clear was at a Sunday brunch on Thanksgiving weekend. After we parted, a passing truck splashed a puddle full of water on my raincoat - reminding me how all wet I was.

Lyanne took a new job in San Francisco, and I'd already bought an airline ticket to visit her when I learned she was engaged. I went ahead and made the trip in May 1995, and she was gracious enough to join me for a Monday evening dinner. She also was gracious not to bring her fiancee, to watch our every move.

The long weekend in San Francisco was memorable, for all sorts of reasons:

+ I called the pastor of a local church, to verify when and where his service would be - only to show up and learn he'd been kicked out of the church days before, in a denominational split. He didn't invite me to his new group, which I guess makes him less gracious than Lyanne was.

+ My usual Saturday evening run was on a walkway around San Francisco Bay. I'm guessing I only went about one mile nonstop. By comparison, my Saturday night Riverwalk run this weekend was 3.6 miles nonstop - so not being lovesick can improve all sorts of things.

+ I had dinner at a "Pie Shoppe" - then returned to my hotel room and threw some of it up. Next time, I'll ask how they make the whipped topping.

+ I drove down the "world's most crooked street," in the heart of San Francisco -- and to this day, I'm convinced most NASCAR drivers would crash before completing that block.

But of course, the highlight of it all was the Monday evening dinner with Lyanne. I dressed in a jade-green sweater, wearing the color of the San Jose Sharks hockey team which had a playoff game that night. For those of you who may have forgotten - this was back when teams played MAJOR league hockey in this country....

Lyanne walked into the restaurant on Union Street, coming straight from work - and we chatted about everything from her job to her wedding plans. I'll never forget how she doubled over with a wide-open jaw, when I told the waiter asking about coffee: "No thanks, I'm driving."

(Do you think Lyanne never heard that line before? My Dad used to use it at almost every restaurant our family visited. Servers around here tend not to even notice it - perhaps because they're too busy trying to earn every tip they can.)

I really wanted an "exit interview" with Lyanne at that dinner - to learn what I'd done well in our relationship, and where I could improve. She didn't offer any of that. Considering she hasn't tried to set me up with any other women, maybe the silence speaks truckloads....

After dinner, Lyanne let me drive her home - and she guided me on a scenic route around some San Francisco city landmarks. One was the house where the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire" was set. Considering ten years later in San Francisco, that Robin Williams movie looks almost G-rated now.

Lyanne also showed me the block with a row of narrow houses, which was the street shown on the TV comedy "Full House." If what I found in a Google search is accurate, Lyanne's a mother of twins now - and amazingly, one is named "Ashley" as in Olson.

We finally came to Lyanne's house - and the woman who grew up in Puerto Rico said, "Well, amigo...." then she planed a kiss on my cheek and hopped out of my rental car. Shame on me for not becoming interested in salsa music until AFTER she met that other guy....

After stopping at a Safeway store for a nightcap snack, I returned to my hotel and left a message on Lyanne's work voice-mail which she'd hear the next morning. I thanked her for the nice evening, choking up as I did. Yes, Miriam Tidwell, this blogger DOES cry sometimes - not over thousands of people like you, but over one I still want to be around.

But enough about lost loves - let's check some found news items from Saturday:

+ An 11-hour fire left extensive damage to a Russell County lumberyard. Crews from several surrounding fire departments responded to the call - but "Yella Fella" of YellaWood was conspicuous by his absence.

+ Vanilla Ice performed in concert at The Vibe. Yes, THAT Vanilla Ice - the man I figured could only get gigs at Bruster's Ice Cream anymore...

+ The annual "Mayor's Fitness Walk and 5K Run" was held at South Commons. I assume that's why I saw several portable toilets along the Riverwalk - for people whose kidneys may not be so fit.

(So did any of you go to this event? Did public safety supporters force Mayor Bob Poydasheff to quit fitness walking, and start running?)

+ Brookstone's tennis teams won Georgia boys' and girls' state titles. Maybe there's a lesson here for the people who run Cooper Creek Park. Brookstone wins all those home matches on hardcourt, not clay -- and hey, we're not in France or the Netherlands.

+ Russell County's baseball team bounced back from its first loss of the year to stop Stanhope Elmore 2-0. Russell County will meet Pinson Valley in the Alabama state finals -- which is scary, since Vada Pinson was a pretty good player for the Cincinnati Reds years ago.

+ Instant Message to the ambulance driver who went through a traffic light on the 280 Bypass by honking "shave and a haircut, two bits": Should I assume from that honk this was NOT a life-and-death call?

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