Jody & Mike September of 2017, I found myself going on my first date in 22 years. I had just turned 40 and become a widow earlier in the year. Walking up to the front of The Sandshaker Lounge on Pensacola Beach to meet Mike, who I’d known through work, seemed surreal. The night was balmy. The breeze was lightly lifting the hem of my dress that showed more skin than I’d realized. I’d tried it on when my sister Priscilla had taken me out earlier that month to buy ‘dating clothes’. The Shaker was packed, and the crowd was lively, as the Drake White show was well underway. Mike had invited me to join him and another couple to see the show the country singer was putting on, and I’d nervously accepted the invitation. I was old enough to know that it could be a big mistake to date someone who I had to regularly interact with through work, but I’d made
a decision and was determined to stick to it! Mike was such a nice guy, and I couldn’t imagine him doing anything to make me uncomfortable if things didn’t work out. So, there I was, noise blaring and ridiculously self-conscious for a woman my age. I wasn’t about to walk into the bar by myself, so I called him when I was at the door. He made it out there to me within what seemed like a heartbeat. He was a gentleman from the word “go”. Smiling broadly with his hand lightly pressed to the small of my back, he escorted me to where our group of four would watch the show from the upper deck. Mike pulled out the barstool for me, got me situated, and fought the crowd anytime I needed anything; a bushwacker, a water, a soda, whatever - he was on it. His friends, Fred and Chanda, had been married for about 25 years and couldn’t have been more kind and welcoming. The double date ended up being a wonderful success. The show was great, Mike continued to be a gentleman, and more dates were definitely on the horizon. Mike had a story of his own. He’d been married a couple of times, the last one for more than 15 years, and he’d decided that marriage wasn’t a thing he really needed to do again. He had moved back to his hometown of Jay, Florida, and reconnected with lifelong friends who welcomed him back with open arms, happy to have their friend back around. Miller Lites, cookouts, and stories of their athletic successes were the norm. Mike had started for the Royals basketball team back in the day and his buddies were former Royals football stars. Life was simple. But man, was that Drake White show night a change of pace! There have been so many concerts since then… Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson (three times), Luke Combs three times (once at The Sandshaker), Jamie Johnson twice,
