Mr. Collins

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'll tell you my Valentine's story from last year. I had a lovely day. I went to school, I came home, I blogged, I wore pink and my conversation heart pins. Today I wore the same sweater and pins, and some great pink socks with hearts on it, some of which are sparkly. I got lots of compliments on those haha! Anyway, last year, the day was great. And I went to bed and had a good night's sleep. Got up the next morning and thought, "This is going to be a great day!" Then I opened the door to leave. There were some balloons tied to the rail outside our door. I thought, "Oh, who are those for?" Then I saw my name. "What? Who on earth...?" I untied them and turned over the card, "Brooke, I hope you don't mind me borrowing a ward directory to look you up. Happy Valentine's Day! -Mr. Collins" Okay, obviously it didn't say Mr. Collins, but I'm protecting the innocent. Anyhoo, my heart sunk. Now who is this Mr. Collins, you may ask? I'll tell you. One day several weeks before, as I was walking to school, a man started talking to me. When it came time to part ways, he asked for my number. I had never before experienced that, so it caught me really off-guard and so I gave it to him, even though I didn't know if I really wanted to. He didn't call, however. A couple weeks after that I went to church and he was there. I was really confused because I'd never seen him there before. Apparently his brother was in my ward and he came sometimes. My roommate was talking to him and I walked up unawares. So we talked briefly. He called me that week but I didn't answer the unknown number (and he didn't leave a message). The next week was Valentine's Day. On that fateful February 15th he called again. I answered this time and he asked me out, but I was unavailable that night. I was feeling incredibly awkward that he gave me balloons and I wasn't really interested him. The thing is, when I first met him, I thought, "He seems kind of old." A little...uh...research showed me that he was...pretty sure he's ten years my senior. That made me a bit uncomfortable.
We did eventually go on a date. It was fine. He was really quiet. I could barely hear him. I had to keep the conversation going most of the time. It was short, and I was okay with that.
I felt horribly awkward about this experience last year. I was somewhat horrified by it all. Then for a while, it was just a good story. I know Mr. Collins is a good man, and very smart. I truly hope he has found or will find a Charlotte Lucas, well better than a Charlotte really. Somebody who can really love him. Because this Miss Bennet just wasn't feeling it. Mr. Collins, thanks for a good memory and God bless you!

Happy Valentine's Day, folks!