A Three Day Getaway

A Three Day Getaway

My girlfriend and I are getting ready to go on a three day getaway to Mission Bay in San Diego that we take every six months.
We keep talking about getting married but things keep coming up. We were just so busy doing different things, but eventually we will set a date.
What a hassle that we both are going through just getting ready to go.
I'm already all hyped up about getting on the road.
As I was getting ready to come home from work,
I got into my car and pulled the hood latch by mistake thinking it was the emergency brake and then I started to back up with the emergency brake half on and then I pulled the hood latch by mistake and it popped up.
I reached down quickly and got everything straightened out. I got out of the car to shut the hood. I said to myself I need to relax and get myself together. I’m moving way too fast.
I pulled out of the parking lot thinking I'll be home in a few minutes and everything will be better. I'll be more relaxed.

A short while later, I arrived at home and went into the house. My girlfriend Jean says, “Hi honey. You better start packing. “What? I just walked in. Can I relax for a few minutes?” “Sure have some coffee and sit down and relax.”
Jean said, “I have to make a phone call to notify our neighbor friends that we are going to be gone for a few days, and if they could keep an eye on our house.
The woman that lives next door to us said she would collect our mail while were gone.”

Jean said to herself well that's all done.

While we were getting a few things together,
I yelled out to Jean across the room as she was packing one of the suitcases. “Why are you asking Mrs. Glasses to get our mail?” “She said her name is not Glasses, it’s Glass”. “Well she better have them on, if she goes to get our mail.
You remember three or four weeks ago when she pulled up in our driveway in her old clunker of a car and parked it and walked into our house by accident thinking it was her house. She stood in our living room by the front door with a confused look on her face and said ‘gee I'm sorry, this is not my house.
I have the wrong glasses on. These are my computer glasses that I'm wearing. I was in such a hurry for an appointment that I grabbed the wrong ones. No wonder everything was a little blurry I thought maybe I needed new glasses”....

Jean said,” I’m sure she will have the right ones on when she checks our mail. You know honey she can't see more than five or six feet in front of her, even with her regular glasses on.
Jean patted me on the back and said she will be ok, that she will get the right mail.

“Jean today is Friday. You know we’re not leaving
until Sunday morning. I'm going over to the store to buy a carton of ice cream. Be back in a few minutes.” With a large smile on her face she said “No you can't buy ice cream and leave it in the freezer. What if the electricity goes off. The ice cream will be all over at the bottom of the freezer melted.” I said, “Do you know what the chances are of the electricity going off while we are gone, slim to none.” Jean just smiled a little bit at me and turned and walked away giggling and she said “Fine, go get it.”
I said, “Believe me, it will be all gone by Sunday, and just in case there is any left, I will take a chance of leaving it in the freezer, so I will be back in a few minutes.”

I was soon back home with my ice cream. We were both moving around the house trying to get everything ready to leave on our vacation to Mission Bay Sunday morning.
She was telling me this thing goes over there and that over there and that goes over there in that bag and then she said, no wait it goes over here in this suitcase. We would go back and forth from room to room loading different stuff in the suitcases.
It seems like we were both going mad just trying to get things organized and ready to go.
As we are both moving up and down the hallway we come face to face with each other and as we stopped and looked into each other's eyes and came close to each other's lips, we kissed.
As we kissed and then slowly moved apart we laughed like a couple of teenagers on a first date.
We both at the same time said, "ok let's take a break and have some coffee". She said I'll make it, you get the cups.” A few minutes later the coffee was done.
We were sitting on the couch relaxing, Jean with a damp cloth lying across her forehead with her cup of coffee. I’m sitting there next to her with my head leaning back staring upwards at the ceiling.

When suddenly I jumped up, Jean pulls the damp cloth off of her forehead and asks what's wrong?”
I said, “I almost forgot to pack my little teddy.”
Jean put her coffee down on the table and said,
“Oh no you're not taking your little bear with us again. You said you have had that teddy bear since you were a little kid and you are not taking it with us.”

On our way out of the driveway to go on our trip, Jean and I see Mrs. Glasses standing in her front yard with that confused look on her face again. Jean and I got out of our car and went over to Mrs. Glasses. We asked if she was all right.
She began to speak incoherently. Jean and I looked at each other, and without speaking, we gently led Mrs. Glasses to our car, helped her in, and took her to the emergency room.
Instead of going on our trip, we stayed home so we could be with Mrs. Glasses while she was in the hospital. Thankfully, Mrs. Glasses had a treatable condition. Jean and I made sure every day that Mrs. Glasses took her medication and ate properly.
Six months later, Jean and I and teddy went on our trip to San Diego. But this time, we took along a companion—Mrs. Glass or as we both now call her, Glasses.

This time, the trip was different for another reason—Jean and I finally got married! And
Mrs. Glasses was so proud to be a witness at our wedding.

It ended up being a beautiful
three day getaway.

A story by Norman Clifford
And R. Shapiro