How Ice Cream Saved My Marriage Before It Even Started
A story for my Bookworm girls (yes, this is one of their favorite stories):
Mr Bookworm and I have been married for a long time, but this fall marks 25 years that we've been together, including the dating years. No, we're not that old. We've been together since our freshman year in college. Don't do the math.
True fact: minus one week of not-being-broken-up (maybe), we've been together since we were dating. And while I have my faults, I like to think that Mr. Bookworm has helped me become a better person.
So don't judge (too much) when I tell you the story of how ice cream saved my marriage. Or rather, how ice cream saved my wedding to Mr. Bookworm.
About a month before our wedding, Mr. Bookworm had a conference in Cannes. Of course I tagged along. Neither of us speak French (I know only a few phrases) and this was in the time before cell phones. Now let me preface this story with a fact that my little Bookworm family is well aware of: I hate getting lost. Hate it. Hate it even more if I have to drive in circles.
Even more than that--I hate being hungry. Or hot. Or hungry and hot.
We flew into Paris and would take another flight to Nice. Here's the thing: there are TWO airports in Paris. And we connected in the OTHER airport. We didn't realize this until we couldn't find our connection. And, as Mr. Bookworm recalls, a kind Air France employee informed us of our mistake. Then she booked us on a later flight so we could take a bus across the City of Light to the correct airport.
From Nice, we took another bus and arrived early in the morning to Cannes. And had no idea where to go.
No need for a taxi--was one even around?--as our hotel was just a few short blocks away. So as the town started to wake up, Mr. Bookworm and I wandered back and forth through the city streets. No one knew where our small hotel was located. And no one could give us directions. Or if they did, we'd follow their instructions to a "T" and still didn't spot our hotel.
Well, it was getting warmer and I was getting frustrated. Finally I told Mr. Bookworm that it was his turn to ask for directions. He left me with the luggage and I sat and sat and sat.
As the temperature rose, I started to fume. Where was he? What was taking so long? I peeked into the shops next to me and he was no where to be found.
Do I trudge in the direction I think he went? I'd have to lug all our stuff with me.
I sighed. I was pretty frustrated and I couldn't understand how I could spend the rest of my life with someone who didn't understand me and couldn't ask for directions. The wedding was OFF.
Just as I was giving up, I spied Mr. Bookworm. He was happily marching toward me with TWO ice cream cones in hand plus a map with directions. He placed an ice cream in front of me.
And that was it.
How could I not marry the person who understands me the most?
And accepts all my flaws.
Mr. Bookworm and I have grown a lot in these 17 (25!) years. And though we still get on each other's nerves sometimes, we also have a deep respect and love for one another.
I couldn't ask for a better partner in life or a better husband and father to our girls.
There aren't enough words to express it, but he knows. He knows what I'm saying. And knows what's in my heart. Love you. xoxo
*** Feature photo at top from one of our 5-6 visits (in one week!) to Maui Gelato in Kihei. You can get mochi on top of your homemade gelato! There are also shaved ice, ice cream, and waffle options.
Two of the three best things to come out of our marriage. Posted with permission.
A Contrast:
We are lucky and blessed in that we were able to vacation with my family in Maui this summer. Mr. Bookworm and I debated having a date night since our anniversary fell during the same vacation time. We opted not to because we wanted to maximize our time in Maui and figured we could celebrate later when we returned home.
Well, I shared a lovely picture of my three loves out in the ocean on my Instagram account. The tide was coming in and Little Lion got a little nervous. So she yanked on her dad's arm, and he happened to scrape his foot against a rock or coral. No big deal, right?
Except when we came out of the water to rinse off, HE. WOUD. NOT. STOP. BLEEDING.
No worries. Ever prepared, my dad brought out his first aid/medicine kit and we tried to clean things off. And Mr. Bookworm was STILL bleeding. I stayed calm and told him that we needed to go to urgent care or the ER.
We hopped in our rental car to the nearest urgent care center. And as we pulled into the parking lot, I started to giggle as I realized that we were spending our ANNIVERSARY date in urgent care. That's right! We didn't want to leave the girls for a special dinner date on our actual anniversary, but we ended up leaving them for several hours anyway!
When we were signing in, I asked our very nice and capable nurse to take our picture to commemorate our anni. :D :D
And, we had the best care possible with Dr. A. Mr. Bookworm is healed and he had the easiest and cleanest stitches I've had to remove in some time.
Mr. Bookworm and me on our anniversary. Posted with permission. See his bandaged foot? That's my dad's work pre-stitches from Dr. A.
