Nina and Madelaine and Harrison 1991

Christina,

Of course, I remember your battered but well loved little Snoopy -- a little friend who accompanied you through childhood and beyond. I think he ended up coming to our Madison home and living out his golden years in our toy chest. Here is a photo of you with the kids back in the days that I only had two bambini -- Madelaine is four and Harrison is almost two. You were a very attentive aunt to my two little ones at the time and they nicknamed you Nina -- a name that all your nieces and nephews call you to this day. Incidently, the story about dating in the work place that I was going to share with Madelaine happened about the same time. And the photo of the main character in my story was literally on the next page of the scrapbook.

Madelaine,

You were asking about if I have any bad experiences with romance in the office. Well, I've been thinking about it and of course, I can't remember all the bad things, only the good things. So, here is a good story. When I moved to Madison in 1990 to work for the Alumni Office, I was newly single having been in a relationship for more than 8 years. So, I was a bit dense about all the male attention I was getting. One young man who showered me with attention was Forest -- a new college graduate who worked in the Alumni Office. He would walk me to my car every night and often went out to lunch with me. When I purchased a house several months after arriving, he offered to help me with everything from moving in to removing carpet to getting the fire place started. He was so nice to me and I was so dense. I didn't even realize that he liked me -- duh!!! How could someone four years younger than me and so cute be interested in me? Well, as I look back, his attention was just what I needed after having my heart broken. He was happy to help me out and spend time with me without anything but good conversation -- and occasionally a home-cooked meal in return. To thank him for all his help with the house, I knitted him a sweater; the one he is wearing in the picture. We were friends for years after that. I will never forget the time he sung a song he had written for me. It was a tune to an old Beatles song that he played on his guitar. Very romantic and unforgettable.

On another note, when I did realize that Forest liked me, I thought carefully about if I should date him while we were working together. What would happen if things didn't work out? And what would my supervisors think of a professional dating a student intern? I decided not to date him but just keep up the friendship/flirtation as it was. I thought I'd wait until either my situation or his changed. He eventually took another job but by then the moment for us had passed and I had met someone else. We continued to be friends for years and in some ways that was better. I'm not sure we could been friends for so long if we'd gotten more involved. He was a bright spot during a very sad and difficult time in my life.

I'll keep thinking about my other dating situations in the workplace. At your age, I worked in primarily women centered work places so the opportunites were slim. On another note, what are your plans for the weekend? Mom