My husband took me to see the movie the summer before we started dating. I believe it was the first time he ever took me to see anything without all his buddies in tow. I didn't find out until much later that he had a heck of a time slipping away from the dorm without them--especially one mutual buddy who assumed that since we were all friends that we would all go do things together--always. And since he didn't have anybody in his own life, nobody else did either . . . Great guy, just a bit egotistical (We'd dated a couple of years before. In brief--I was too much of free spirit for his tastes and he said so. In the end, he converted a lovely exchange student from Hong Kong to Christianity and married her).
However that time, Gary told everybody he was going to see his mother and then called me from her house and asked me if I wanted to go do something. I vividly remember laying on the floor of my apartment with my feet propped on a chair watching my new Golden Hamsters running on their wheels. Gary's voice in my ear was the perfect cap on a great day and his invitation only improved it. At this point we were simply friends and it would be a few months before he dug up the nerve to tell me how he felt. I already knew how I felt, but I'd concluded that I probably wasn't the sort of girl he dated (Being too off-beat for the typical Evangelical Christian guy, I had kind of given up on that sect of the population.).
We had a great time at the movie and he came back to the apartment with me where we talked until four AM and he went home, leaving an empty spot in my life that I did not know was there until I watched him drive away. I went to see the movie twice more by myself and once with another guy. It was not the same. I didn't hear from Gary again until December. I named the hamsters Wesley and Buttercup. They went on to have numerous children together. Gary finally told me how he felt just after Christmas and the rest is history.
Anyway, I just received my Valentine's Day present a bit early. It is the abridged version of H.S. Morgenstern's "Princess Bride" with a lovely inscription on the inside cover from my husband. It more than makes up for the "Too Much Husband" post, I think.
As much as I loved the movie (can quote all or most of it from memory), I have to say that now certain aspects of it make sense. Like the bit about "And that day Buttercup went into her room and shut the door. "I will never love again." I always wondered how Prince Humperdink found her if she was closed up in her room. Now I know that she emerged a few days later and the conversation they had took place outside. And it actually sheds light on why she agreed to marry him in the first place (something else I always wondered about).
The writing is terrific. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend picking it up. Or, better, dropping hints to the love of your life. It's a far better read when received as a gift.
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