Happy Anniversary Honey! A Memoir of our first days as Husband and Wife!
Today Harold and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. I was thinking back yesterday to the day of our wedding. It was truly a perfect day! We gathered with our family and close friends for a small but elegant ceremony, a lovely reception, and drove away to live our lives together happily ever after!
Then came the honeymoon! Ya know how folks say “the honeymoon is over”, well ours started out kinda rocky even before it began. You see, we arrived blissfully happy to Hartsfield International Airport only to be turned away at the security checkpoint because my Driver’s License had expired! Harold made me stop writing checks at the grocery store and encouraged me to use my credit card and then pay it off using the more modern “on-line” bill pay! Well it did work out well, except there was no grocery clerk to remind me to renew my license…yep, by cutting out the middle man I nearly lost my honeymoon!
The lady at security would NOT budge. Even when I turned on the waterworks and cried in a not so quiet voice that “THIS IS MY HONEYMOON!!!! YOU HAVE TO LET ME THROUGH!!!” Actually, I think she would have let me through but explained that even if SHE let me through security, I may not be able to board the plane in Denver to return….hmm guess she had a point. Next she told us that there was a Kroger store just a few exits up the highway from the airport and that if we hurry, we could renew my license and get back in time to still catch the plane!
Harold hailed a taxi and we hurried down the road to Kroger. The license renewal booth was in the back of the store. We ran as fast as we could, only to see a line of twenty people with only one elderly clerk, moving about the speed of a slug! Oh… we will NEVER make our flight….sigh….
But wait, who IS that tall man yelling at the crowd?!? Why it’s prince Harold high upon a chair…he’s making a plea to the crowd…explaining that it is our honeymoon….wouldn’t they please let me go to the front of the line?
If you know anything about the area that surrounds the Atlanta airport, you will understand that they did not give a rats ass that a few middle class yuppies were about to miss their airplane ride to a resort where they would be pampered for a week! Screw us!
So Harold again, upon his chair appeals a bit more to their senses…”OK…I’LL GIVE EVERYONE IN LINE $10 EACH THAT WILL LET MY WIFE PASS YOU IN LINE!”
Well….now you’re talking baby! I was quickly moved to the front of the line, while my new groom (now very much resembling an ATM rolls off 20 ten dollar bills, then of course pays my license renewal of $15)
We leave Kroger with my brand new $215 license and head back to the airport in our $50 taxi! Wow…isn’t Harold the BEST! Isn’t he the most wonderful man on the planet? And to think….I am his lucky bride. He would do ANYTHING for me! I felt so loved, but again, feelings can change pretty darn fast!
Fast forward….day 2 of our honeymoon. We are in Breckenridge Colorado enjoying an awesome ski trip. There is fresh powder on the ground. The weather is delightful! After stopping for lunch at a cabin on the mountain, we took off on our skis to head back down.
Unfortunately, I got a bit ahead of Harold and ended up going left when the trail we were SUPPOSED to follow veered to the right. I found myself on a course that was a little more than I could handle and almost pulled a Sonny Bono, but missed the trees due to my amazing balance and agility! (Thanks mom and dad for the ballet lessons!) So there I lay, cold, wet, scared and all alone in the woods upon a mountain in Colorado. No one around at all! Surely SOMEONE saw me, surely it would be a matter of minutes before someone came by….WRONG!
I took my skis off and tried as hard as possible to walk through the snow. With every step through the wooded hell I was in, I would sink above my knees in the snow, which made this an arduous task. Where is my Harold, where is my Prince Charming that just 2 days ago rescued me??? Surely he will come for me! Surely I will hear ski patrol sirens and helicopters at any moment….he will save me, I’m SURE of it! Waiting……………Ah to heck with it! (I didn’t really say heck, but I’ll keep it clean for public viewing) I finally managed to find my way out of the woods and back to the mountain trail. HOURS have gone by. I MUST find Harold, he must be worried sick. I know he is on the mountain looking for me, probably heartbroken and pleading for help from the local authorities!
I made my way back to the resort. Everything seemed normal. No frantic ski patrol, no helicopters, no drama at all! I decided to go inside to stave off the last stages of frost bite that was gradually turning my entire body blue! I trekked back to our room in my 50 pound ski boots, opened the door and there he was….my prince charming! On the phone to emergency rescuers??? NOPE! Crying on the phone telling my family he had lost me? NOPE!
He was sitting by the fire watching TV with his feet up wearing his long johns and drinking a beer! THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had left me on the mountain to DIE a slow and painful death! Who is this man I married??? (I’ll spare you the details of how the rest of the day went as I’m sure you can imagine….especially those of you who know me well!)
The next day was nice, we tried to put the nightmare of the previous day behind us and enjoy ourselves. Harold never let me out of his sight. He was even there for me when I fell off the ski lift and was hit in the head by the lift chair! And when I skied through the mesh sign that says “slow down” he was there for me to explain that that was a warning sign, not an actual thing to help you slow down…he’s so smart!
But the following day, I decided to sleep in while Harold went out for an early run. We planned to meet at the base of the mountain for lunch at noon and then head up the mountain again together. So he caught the ski lift around 9am…and suddenly without warning, the lift just STOPPED! He waited and waited and waited…suspended 200 feet in the air with temperatures around negative 20 (not including the wind chill). I, in the meantime was nestled snug as a bug in my cozy bed!...or was I? That is the true question. Where was I for those 2 hours while he was freezing and helpless? Was it perhaps I who spent another couple hundred bucks to bribe the ski lift operator to shut it down? Hmmm .. Definitely food for thought isn’t it?
Now those of you who know me, KNOW I would NEVER spend $200 on such a thing!
Heck no…I just flirted with the fellow and spent $200 at the spa that morning!
Happy anniversary Honey! I love you with all my heart and soul! And even at those rare times you come up short…you will always be my Prince Charming!
Then came the honeymoon! Ya know how folks say “the honeymoon is over”, well ours started out kinda rocky even before it began. You see, we arrived blissfully happy to Hartsfield International Airport only to be turned away at the security checkpoint because my Driver’s License had expired! Harold made me stop writing checks at the grocery store and encouraged me to use my credit card and then pay it off using the more modern “on-line” bill pay! Well it did work out well, except there was no grocery clerk to remind me to renew my license…yep, by cutting out the middle man I nearly lost my honeymoon!
The lady at security would NOT budge. Even when I turned on the waterworks and cried in a not so quiet voice that “THIS IS MY HONEYMOON!!!! YOU HAVE TO LET ME THROUGH!!!” Actually, I think she would have let me through but explained that even if SHE let me through security, I may not be able to board the plane in Denver to return….hmm guess she had a point. Next she told us that there was a Kroger store just a few exits up the highway from the airport and that if we hurry, we could renew my license and get back in time to still catch the plane!
Harold hailed a taxi and we hurried down the road to Kroger. The license renewal booth was in the back of the store. We ran as fast as we could, only to see a line of twenty people with only one elderly clerk, moving about the speed of a slug! Oh… we will NEVER make our flight….sigh….
But wait, who IS that tall man yelling at the crowd?!? Why it’s prince Harold high upon a chair…he’s making a plea to the crowd…explaining that it is our honeymoon….wouldn’t they please let me go to the front of the line?
If you know anything about the area that surrounds the Atlanta airport, you will understand that they did not give a rats ass that a few middle class yuppies were about to miss their airplane ride to a resort where they would be pampered for a week! Screw us!
So Harold again, upon his chair appeals a bit more to their senses…”OK…I’LL GIVE EVERYONE IN LINE $10 EACH THAT WILL LET MY WIFE PASS YOU IN LINE!”
Well….now you’re talking baby! I was quickly moved to the front of the line, while my new groom (now very much resembling an ATM rolls off 20 ten dollar bills, then of course pays my license renewal of $15)
We leave Kroger with my brand new $215 license and head back to the airport in our $50 taxi! Wow…isn’t Harold the BEST! Isn’t he the most wonderful man on the planet? And to think….I am his lucky bride. He would do ANYTHING for me! I felt so loved, but again, feelings can change pretty darn fast!
Fast forward….day 2 of our honeymoon. We are in Breckenridge Colorado enjoying an awesome ski trip. There is fresh powder on the ground. The weather is delightful! After stopping for lunch at a cabin on the mountain, we took off on our skis to head back down.
Unfortunately, I got a bit ahead of Harold and ended up going left when the trail we were SUPPOSED to follow veered to the right. I found myself on a course that was a little more than I could handle and almost pulled a Sonny Bono, but missed the trees due to my amazing balance and agility! (Thanks mom and dad for the ballet lessons!) So there I lay, cold, wet, scared and all alone in the woods upon a mountain in Colorado. No one around at all! Surely SOMEONE saw me, surely it would be a matter of minutes before someone came by….WRONG!
I took my skis off and tried as hard as possible to walk through the snow. With every step through the wooded hell I was in, I would sink above my knees in the snow, which made this an arduous task. Where is my Harold, where is my Prince Charming that just 2 days ago rescued me??? Surely he will come for me! Surely I will hear ski patrol sirens and helicopters at any moment….he will save me, I’m SURE of it! Waiting……………Ah to heck with it! (I didn’t really say heck, but I’ll keep it clean for public viewing) I finally managed to find my way out of the woods and back to the mountain trail. HOURS have gone by. I MUST find Harold, he must be worried sick. I know he is on the mountain looking for me, probably heartbroken and pleading for help from the local authorities!
I made my way back to the resort. Everything seemed normal. No frantic ski patrol, no helicopters, no drama at all! I decided to go inside to stave off the last stages of frost bite that was gradually turning my entire body blue! I trekked back to our room in my 50 pound ski boots, opened the door and there he was….my prince charming! On the phone to emergency rescuers??? NOPE! Crying on the phone telling my family he had lost me? NOPE!
He was sitting by the fire watching TV with his feet up wearing his long johns and drinking a beer! THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had left me on the mountain to DIE a slow and painful death! Who is this man I married??? (I’ll spare you the details of how the rest of the day went as I’m sure you can imagine….especially those of you who know me well!)
The next day was nice, we tried to put the nightmare of the previous day behind us and enjoy ourselves. Harold never let me out of his sight. He was even there for me when I fell off the ski lift and was hit in the head by the lift chair! And when I skied through the mesh sign that says “slow down” he was there for me to explain that that was a warning sign, not an actual thing to help you slow down…he’s so smart!
But the following day, I decided to sleep in while Harold went out for an early run. We planned to meet at the base of the mountain for lunch at noon and then head up the mountain again together. So he caught the ski lift around 9am…and suddenly without warning, the lift just STOPPED! He waited and waited and waited…suspended 200 feet in the air with temperatures around negative 20 (not including the wind chill). I, in the meantime was nestled snug as a bug in my cozy bed!...or was I? That is the true question. Where was I for those 2 hours while he was freezing and helpless? Was it perhaps I who spent another couple hundred bucks to bribe the ski lift operator to shut it down? Hmmm .. Definitely food for thought isn’t it?
Now those of you who know me, KNOW I would NEVER spend $200 on such a thing!
Heck no…I just flirted with the fellow and spent $200 at the spa that morning!
Happy anniversary Honey! I love you with all my heart and soul! And even at those rare times you come up short…you will always be my Prince Charming!
posted by Tyla at 8:37 AM
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