October 2009: Boy Meets Girl

The first weekend after Casey closed on her house, her entire family went on a canoe trip. They tried several times to convince her to come along, but she was adamant about staying in town to start the arduous process of unpacking and to attend a volunteer event that Saturday night. The event was Rose Brooks' annual Casino Night--a combination silent and live auction that raises money for the center's efforts to protect women and children victims of domestic violence.

Well, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who else was there. Since moving to Kansas City, Vince has been a member of Rose Brooks' volunteer steering committee. After his duties at the check-in table were complete that night, another member of the committee, Christy, roped him into helping other volunteers. Now it is unclear whether it was pure chance or intentional on Christy's part, but the other volunteer just so happened to be the girl who had caught his eye earlier that night--Casey. And Casey was equally pleased to have the help of the guy she had also noticed that night.

Vince, being the gentleman that he is, graciously helped Casey carry auction items to the winners' table. When Casey turned around to thank him, he was gone! Determined not to let a good thing slip away, Casey tracked Vince down and thanked him. This lead to conversation, an invitation to go out for coffee from Vince, and the extension of Casey's number (on the proverbial cocktail napkin) to Vince.

It didn't take long after what they both agreed was the perfect first date for them to exhibit symptoms of a serious, committed relationship: helping the other with his or her house.

Vince was the first to fall victim. Casey bought her house with a broken heater and it had turned unseasonably frigid those first few weeks of October. It took almost 3 weeks for him to track down a company that had the needed (and apparently endangered) part in-stock, receive that part, discover that another essentially extinct part was also needed, track down and receive that part, and then install everything. Vince's valiant effort was much appreciated--Casey's house stayed nice and toasty throughout the entire winter.