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Suzanne and Stephanie
Go To Dinner

by Stephanie K.

Well, what happened last night was, once again, simply amazing! Suzanne joined Stephanie and Sharon for dinner out. We found this great little gourmet restaurant called the Lavender Rose up in Bay City, WI, just across the river from Red Wing, MN. We had dined there as Steve and Suzanne on our anniversary weekend in January. It's owned and run by an old acquaintance of Suzanne's. The place is VERY T*friendly. So I asked Suzanne if she might be ready to appear in public with Stephanie and she said she would if we went someplace far away where we would have very little chance of meeting someone we knew. So we agreed on the Lavender Rose and asked my friend Sharon to join us.

Well, we were both doing some deep breathing all week getting ready for this big step. I called for reservations for Saturday night. All was in place. Sharon was going to be in Winona so we made plans to pick her up at the motel at 5:30. Earlier in the week I had decided to choose a couple of outfits and then let Suzanne decide which one she would like to see me in. In addition, I let her decide which of my wigs she would be most comfortable having me wear. Saturday morning I let her choose between the black blazer, black straight skirt, and purple stretch velvet top or a new red stretch velvet tunic top over a lovely pair of gun metal blue silk pants that I had gotten at the consignment shop in Hastings the previous weekend. She chose the pants outfit and I accessorized with a pretty floral print scarf around the neck, a stunning gold and gemstone floral pin at the shoulder and some new, very dangly gold earrings. I wore my auburn shag wig. Suzanne chose to wear what I thought was a quite masculine-looking black rib-knit, high-neck sweater and black cardigan with a pair of tan silk pants. She has very short hair, but wore a very feminine beaded necklace and earring set. She kidded with us that she had actually thought about going to the consignment shop in Winona during the week and getting a suit and tie to wear!! Hmmmm, what a jokester, eh?!! Sharon wore a red sweater over a pretty red print broomstick skirt with a red Pendleton wool blazer.

Well, at 5:20, Suzanne took a deep breath and we stepped out to the garage and she drove right through the middle of town in broad daylight to the motel. I don't think anyone saw us (anyone we knew!). She went into the lobby of the motel to pick up Sharon and we were on our way, 60 miles up along the Mississippi River. We arrived by 7:00 and took another deep breath and walked in. Neither of us knew if we would meet anyone from Winona there -- small chance, but you never know! Well, the place was half full and we didn't see anyone we knew. Whew! Suzanne had been thinking all week about what she would say if she met someone she or we knew. It didn't happen (then!!) So far so good! We got our table and the server, a very friendly guy came over and took good care of us throughout the evening. After a couple of glasses of wine we were all feeling fine and having a great time. My back was to the room so I couldn't see if anyone was noticing us. Suzanne said that a few people glanced in our direction but lost interest quickly. I excused myself to use the ladies room after the first glass of wine and passed a couple of people on the way and just smiled and had my smile returned. Very civilized!!

Dinner came, it was the best grilled tuna with olive pesto I had ever eaten. About halfway through dinner the chef made the rounds of the room, when he got to our table and said hello, Suzanne noticed it was her old friend. CRUNCH TIME!! Suzanne performed beautifully!! She said hello and smiled and he recognized her and they exchanged a few words of greeting and then it happened. "Bill, I'd like you to meet my husband, Steve... Stephanie." We made eye contact and shook hands, both smiling, and said hi. Then, "...and our friend Sharon." All he said was, "Hi, how are you! Great to have you here! Enjoy yourselves!" Then away he went back to the kitchen.

We all looked at each other and Suzanne had this humongous smile on her face. She was quite pleased with herself. She confessed that in the heat of the moment she had considered 1) fleeing to the bathroom until he went back to the kitchen, 2) not acknowledging that she knew him, 3) intentionally "forgetting" to introduce us, 4) introducing me only as her "friend," or 5) saying it straight like nothing was out of the ordinary! She was quite proud that she had made the integrity move and acted naturally! Number 6, GOOD CHOICE!! We had a wonderful discussion about the incident and finished a delightful meal in full blush of our accomplishment.

During dessert we wondered (jokingly) if Bill had gone back to the kitchen and immediately posted a memo to never honor a reservation from any of us again. When we got up to leave our server was right there and thanked us profusely for coming (really!) and extended a genuinely warm invitation to come back again. Of course, I think the 20% tip helped to generate his very hospitable mood. We exited proudly and quietly and had a very pleasant trip home.

This was great fun!! I recommend it to all couples! Suzanne even said that she had so much fun that we might even do it again!! She is so amazing! I am in deep, deep love with her! Can you tell? So, that's the way it is in the little town of Winona, MN, where the women are strong, some of the men wear dresses, and the children think it's pretty interesting overall.

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