Strawberry Shakes

It wasn't that Jerry was totally self-absorbed and inconsiderate of me because in addition to dragging me to car lots and me discovering quirky things about him I had never known, he was also very caring and sweet.

After arriving in Kansas, one of the first things he did was to fix up the apartment even more.  He bought slip covers for the furniture, painted and bought me things I needed.  Oh, let me back-up and say, when I first wrote to him and told him I had gotten an apartment he sent me $500 and told me to use it to get settled.  Jerry certainly was stepping up to the plate in taking care of me and our baby.

Every night I came home from work I'd notice something he did to improve the apartment.  One night I came home and he was all giddy and grinning and could hardly stand the surprise.  I walked into the bedroom and there on the bed was a whole pile of baby things; infant car seat, blankets, clothes and miscellaneous things.  One afternoon while I was at work a dozen red roses arrived for me.  They were from Jerry!  Even my OIC said, "Nice job, Jerry!"  So you see, Jerry was being very sweet to me.

One night he picked me up from work and he had two strawberry milkshakes from Dairy Queen; one for him and one for me.  After a long hot day at work, it was just something that happened to hit the spot.  Getting into that hot (no air conditioning) car, it was such a nice treat to have something smooth and frosty to sip on for the ride home.  So I must have made a big deal about how good it was and how much I was enjoying it  . . . .because the very next day Jerry came to pick me up and he had a strawberry shake for me again.

Oh okay, I enjoyed that yesterday so this is good too, I guess.

And then the next day, a strawberry shake.

Next day, strawberry shake.

Day after day after day, strawberry shakes.

I mean, the poor guy is just trying to please me and be nice but you know, to me milkshakes are just an occasional treat.  Then one day Jerry came to pick me up and he didn't have a milkshake and he said, "I was running late and so I was afraid if I got a shake I'd be late in picking you up.  We can stop on the way home."  He was very apologetic but I assured him it was okay and I really didn't need a shake every day.

Then one night we were out to dinner and on the way home Jerry pulls into Dairy Queen and starts to order shakes.  At this point, I feel like my baby is probably swimming in strawberry goo and not embryonic fluid!  I tell Jerry I really wasn't in the mood for a strawberry shake so he says, "Oh, so did you want chocolate or vanilla?"

Neither.  But that's not what I said because he was trying so hard just to be nice.  "Um, I guess vanilla but a small one, the smallest one they have --like a junior or kid size if they have it."

The next day when Jerry picked me up from work guess what he had for me --yup!  A vanilla shake.

Afterthought . . .
After I wrote this blog I asked Jerry if he remembered the strawberry shakes and he did not so I recounted this story to him and he grinned and said, "I don't really remember that specifically but I do remember every night I came to pick you up I tried to have something for you."  Awe dear sweet Jerry!

A few days later I ran out of oven cleaner so I asked Jerry if he would go to the store for me.  When he got back he laid the bag on the counter and said, "I got something for you."  I was so excited because I thought he got me a surprise!  Then I teasingly said, "Hey, this is like when we were in Kansas and you tried to bring me something every day.  We should just make this our thing, you know --I get something every day!"  Jerry stopped for a moment with a distant look on his face as if he was recalling those days.  He smiled and said, "Yeah, I remember wanting to have something for you every day."  Then he snapped back into year 2010 and handed me the bag and said, "Here you go."  I looked in it and all I saw was oven cleaner so I said, "That's it?  I thought you got me something!"  In all seriousness he said, "I did!  I got you some over cleaner!"

Oh what a difference 21 years of marriage makes.