Hamsters and Pajamas.

Well the time for Deb to meet my family had come. For some reason I did not go down to Grosse Point to pick her up. For some reason we had decided for her to take the bus. I regret this to this day. Why did I not just go down and get her?  I mean I enjoyed riding with her in the car.  Anyway, as I watched the people unloading at the Greyhound terminal I anxiously awaited the appearance of someone with teeth.  Sure enough there appeared on the tarmac a person wearing a nice sweater, had a nice smile, a small suitcase and a look that indicated that she might never go on a bus again.

I had the day before had my wisdom teeth extracted.   Today they do this with with a pretty nice procedure that involves drugs, but then they kind of did this with jackhammers and pry bars and when I picked up Deb I looked like a chipmunk in heat.  I do remember Deb's first comment.  "When did you get the mumps.?"  Anyway it was one of the more vulnerable moments in our dating life.  The endurance thereof somehow gave me the feeling that in addition to my new friend being good looking and smart,  I had here a person who was willing to forgo the short term and think more of the long term.   

I must mention at this point that this has lasted to this day.  Today I feel so sorry for her as she recovers.  The incision from the surgery and the related pain she has now make a wisdom tooth event from yesteryear look like a fly in the ointment.  We have endured  life's events all these years and this morning we decided that we would endure some more till what ever comes of this brings us to future. I asked the doctor yesterday "In all the years you have served families, how do wise families respond to similar medical events?' I thought his answer was interesting.  He said that families who stand solidly behind a decision regarding treatment, made by the patient, seem to do the best.  And that is exactly what we will do.

Anyway, Deb was now in Lansing. Our home was located about a mile away from three large drop forge plants. In the night you could hear the non stop concussion of these plants. It resembled the noise of a distant thunderstorm.  Those of us that were used to this had learned to sleep without noticing it. I did warn Deb that the first time she stayed over this might be an issue as it related to sleep.

Lansing has always kind of bugged me.  It is flat, it is boring, it is the State Capitol.  After living there for a while I thought that the biggest thing that ever happened was that once in while some guy would decide to have three beers after work rather than the two he was used to.  It also seemed to me that whoever was in office did the same things.  During this era George Romney was the governor. He seemed like a good guy but no matter what he did he still had to work in Lansing.  I am glad now that we moved.  Maybe they will move the capitol to Borculo. We will do better than if it still would be in Lansing.

One of the big events of Debs visit was a late night trip she made to my bedroom.  Now anyone of my young age  might get excited about this but I must report that the reason was not as exhilarating as you might expect. Turns out that two big problems surfaced from this..  My sister, Miriam, had given up her bedroom for our guest and next to her bed she kept a glass cage.  I did not know what she might have in that cage, I did not go in there all that much.  But Deb reported that a large mouse was running around at night in this wheel in that cage.  She had had a lifelong dislike for rodents of any kind and for her, this was a close encounter of the third kind.

I think I might have been able to solve this quickly except for one thing.  I did not know that men of any worth had ever worn pajamas.  They were just not part of my literature.  I did however jump out of bed and remove from her presence all rodents.  With all of the commotion my mom got up to see what was going on and all she saw was a son in his underwear exiting a bedroom that housed his girlfriend.  I tried to explain in the morning that carrying a glass cage with a hamster was a logical explanation. I am not sure she has bought this to this day.  As God is my witness it is the truth. 

The rest of the time seemed to go pretty good. I took Deb  back to the bus later on Sunday afternoon.  How stupid.  Do any of you ever want do overs?  I would use one up for this and to this day wish I would have just given her a ride home.  I guess when you are 21 years old you are not all that smart.  To this day when Christmas comes she has always given me a couple packs of underwear (and more) that are more interesting than the ones I wore to get that hamster out of her room.

I have a good story for the next time.   It involves music and bikinis.   Stay tuned.................................

Stay tuned.