Made 2 Last?
So, the ring shopping. Liz e-mailed me this:
Apes
April,Well, Dawn, Shawna-Marie, and Liz's other interested friends and acquaintances, that was their ring-shopping. If you stop by on Monday, you might just find out about Liz telling the fam. Or maybe not. Hard to say.
So, like I wrote in the e-mail to Dawn, Anthony and I went ring shopping the next day, which was a school day. Anthony and I were looking at rings we'd had the jeweler put on the display case, and I said, "I'm glad I had a spare today. --I can't believe I'm shopping for an engagement ring on my lunch hour!" Anthony said, "Fun, isn't it!" I didn't like this, because this reminded me that this wasn't his first time shopping for an engagement ring.
I decided to ignore that,though. I put one of the rings on and said, "Anthony, it's so hard to decide!" Anthony said, "Can I show you what I like?" I didn't get a chance to answer, because I was noticing that his height in relation to me had changed from just before when he had said that thing about the ring shopping being fun. He'd gone from being maybe ten centimetres taller than me to being only about four or five centimetres taller. I like him best on those days when he towers over me. That makes me feel more girly and feminine.
But anyway, as I was thinking about his height changes, he showed me a ring and said, "This one. It has a nice wedding band and a man's ring to match." I said, "It's lovely. We each tried on a ring from that set and held out our left hands to look. Anthony grew back some of his lost centimetres of height and I said, "They fit perfectly!" And Anthony said, "Perfectly!" I hoped his repeating my last word wasn't a sign that he needs to be evaluated for special needs. But before I had a chance to give that very much thought he faced me, put an arm on each of my arms and said, "And... They're made to last."
I gazed into his eyes and tried to do a "loving" look. I wondered if maybe when he bought rings with Thérèse, he didn't take the precaution of getting rings that are made to last. Maybe he bought a cheaper kind with an expiration date, and maybe that's why things didn't go well with them? I wonder about things like that sometimes, April. But anyway, I'm glad Anthony was knowing enough to be able to pick out the "made to last" rings.
Liz
Apes
posted by April Patterson @ 9:02 AM
6 Comments:
At 2:08 PM,
Anonymous said…
april, ur sis’ story 2day iz v.v. similar 2 that field trip we took in our r.p. boire couples contract law 4 marriage class. remembah how they loaded all of us up on the bus & took us 2 a jewelry store & sed, “all right couples. ur job iz 2 get n2 the jewelry store & find an engagement ring. the couple to get a ring the fastest, cheapest, most durable & alreddy fits wins!" gerald sed, “wut if u plan 2 give ur bride the same ring az a dead grandmother, like a family heirloom?” the teach sed, “u get points 4 that, if the ring is durable & alreddy fits ur bride.” so while gerald fished a ring outa hiz pocket (i dunno y it wuz there) & started 2 try 2 fit it on his latest gf, große finger; the rest of us were runnin’ ‘round like crazy peeps 2 try 2 find sumthin’ cheap & fast.
it wuz pretty funny. i liked it wen u sed, “there’s no way 2 win this contest, jeremy, so let’s just watch wut the othah peeps do.” a lotta the couples had a hard tyme cuz sum peeps like lookin’ @ & tryin’ on engagement rings & hearin’ stories ‘bout how 2 measure ring quality & that kinda stuff, eh? eventually they all went out w/sumthin’ & we saw the teacher wuz out there w/a sledge hammer 2 check the rings’ durability or “we must make sure these rings r made 2 last” as she put it. mosta the rings were failin’ the durability test. gold is a soft metal, eh? gerald looked worried his grandmother’s ring wuz gonna get smashed, but lucky 4 him, he cudn’t get it off his new gf, große finger, & they passed on the sledge hammer test 4 him. it wuz pretty stuck.
thass wen i sed 2u i hadda couple of washers in my pocket & we cud use thoze. & we won & got the award 4 the best matching engagement ring & matching men’s ring. it wuz the cheapest & most durable & it still fit pretty well aftah the sledgehammer popped it a few tymes. & yes, like u sed, if i come ovah 2 ur house, i will definitely wear it 2 show 2 ur mom.
At 2:49 PM,
DreadedCandiru2 said…
There are two things I think to be true. First, Anthony means that his marriage to Liz will last. Second, it's more of a threat than a promise.
At 4:13 PM,
April Patterson said…
that field trip was a total trip, jeremy. that was fast thinking w/the washers.
dreaded, yeah, it's not xxactly a good deal we're talking abt here!
apes
At 4:14 PM,
Anonymous said…
Oh, April! I think you are just jealous! I found the perfect man for me!!!
Liz
At 4:14 PM,
April Patterson said…
liz, yeah, i think u really did find the man who's perfect 4 u.
and no, i m not jealous.
apes
At 12:49 AM,
Anonymous said…
April,
Formerly little sis. I remember just last year when my wife, my mother and my daughter went to church in Milborough all together for the first time on Easter. I had thought it was going to be an experience like I had remembered growing up, but it wasn't that way at all. If you recollect, my daughter was bored and restless and asked the question, "When do they get to the part where Jesus meets the Easter bunny?" Things had certainly changed since the time when I used to go to church with mom and dad and Lizzie.
I was thinking about that time back in 1980, which is possibly my first Easter memory. Dad was wearing a suit jacket that was way too small for him, and he was carrying Lizzie in one arm, while Lizzie was reaching her right hand out to dad’s chest because...hum!... I don't know why. The mysterious reasoning of babies, I suppose. As for me, mom was squatting down in order to button my shirt up to my neck in preparation for a necktie. Neither Lizzie nor I were making a fuss, which was unusual for us; but I think it was because we knew that day was a special day.
As mom led me into the church by the hand, I marveled at the beautiful stained glass in the church depicting a scene of a mother carrying a baby in her arms and both them with big sliced-up, circular things around their heads, kind of like pieces of pie. There was a man in a robe in the front and a choir behind him singing. The music was very beautiful and we took our seats, mom and Lizzie in front of dad and me, because there wasn’t much space to sit. Little Lizzie looked back at me with a smile on her face, which was either due to the music or it was due to messing her diaper. I am not sure which one; but I do know that shortly after that we were all sitting together on the same seat. I can’t quite remember why we did that.
However I do remember Lizzie chewed on a chew ring and I snuggled up to mom and dad crossed his arms so his elbow was stuck in my back. Despite this discomfort there was a smile on my face as I heard the man saying the words I remember to this day, "For Easter is not a time for sadness, but a time for rejoicing. Just as Spring awakens sleeping flowers and animals after a long cold winter, so Easter awakens us to the wonders and the love all around..." What a wonderful talk. I love it when people talk about flowers and sleeping animals.
After it was over, mom was putting on my outdoor jacket and as she did I said to her, "Is church open every Sunday, mom?" She replied, "Yes, Michael." as she pulled my jacket sleeves over my shirt.
This got me to thinking. Beautiful music. Beautiful stained glass. Great talks about sleeping animals and flowers and being happy. I could really get used to a place like this. So I said to mom, "Then how come we only come twice a year?" Unfortunately, I said that to mom right in front of dad and the guy wearing the robe, so the rest of the day was not as much fun. I guess they were a little embarrassed by that, because they liked people to think they went more often.
Last year, when we took little Meredith, I had this hope and expectation that she would be as impressed by Easter at a church as I was back in 1980. But it wasn't the same. The man in the robe kept talking on and on about Jesus coming back from the dead and what a great thing it was for sinners. There was not one word about flowers or sleeping animals, and as Meredith so correctly pointed out, not one word about the Easter bunny either. It was a complete failure as far as I am concerned and I think, correctly so, that last year's Easter will be the last Easter you will hear about a Patterson going to church. They have really let that place go to the religious whackos.
We might have to go to a church for Elizabeth's wedding, but I hope the man in the robe will keep the talk about Jesus and dead people to a minimum. The church really isn't the place for that kind of stuff.
Love,
Michael Patterson
Post a Comment
<< Home