"You Don't Know Me, But....."

Terry and I were in line, getting our food for a dinner at the Midtown Church. Jim Hackney, the preaching minister, was in line ahead of us. My sister asked Jim a question that changed my life. "Do you know any girls that David could ask out?" Without hesitation he said, "I know a girl in Dallas named Phyllis Hollabaugh." Jim was her former youth minister. That name rang in my head like a bell choir. "She was Candy's former roommate at ACU," I thought to myself. Jim and Candy did not know each other.

When I got home that night, I called my friend, Larry, who had gone to ACU. He looked Phyllis up in his annual. Larry gave her a positive critique, so I decided to call her up and ask her out.

"You don't know me, but we have some mutual friends -- Candy Gombert and Jim Hackney. I thought you might like to go out." She said yes and we arranged a time on November 1.

When Phyllis opened the door, I immediately thought she was gorgeous. Beautiful long dark hair, very nice features, and I perceived that she had a pleasant personality. She suggested Chili's, so we went to the original Chili's on Greenville Ave, in Dallas. This was when they only had a few restaurants and had more of a Tex-Mex menu and incredible hamburgers. I had a Rojo Burger. It was one of the best hamburgers I had ever had. Things were going well.

I decided to take Phyllis to the movies to see Elephant Man. Knowing the story line, I thought it would be a great movie to soften her up. Maybe she could get past my own imperfections and see that "I AM A MAN."

After the movie, we went back to her apartment and sat in my car and talked for three hours. (Nancy, that is all we did!!) It was one of my best dates. We went out three more times, each time was better than the last. I was definitely "in like." On our fifth date I asked her to go to Ft. Worth and meet my family. This date almost became our last.