A Day Out

We had a slightly unexpected outing today: it was my dad's birthday and Ben and I went with my family to the Henry Ford Museum for a few hours in the afternoon.  Grandma Lila was with Mom and Dad Turner (and Jenny) and they went out shopping and to visit Grandma Turner, so she had a slightly different outing; but I think we all had a pretty enjoyable day.  

Ben and I went to church, got McDonald's for lunch, navigated out to the museum (and accidentally overshot our turn, which got us a little turned around in Dearborn for a while!), wandered around the automobile portion of the museum's exhibits with my family, held hands and read exhibit boards together, kept track of Jonathan (his favorite vehicle was an old schoolbus Ben says Grandpa Wilfred would've liked to see since it was the first model of the buses that would become Grandpa and Grandma's real livelihood down the line), came back to eat Chinese food with my family and had a very pleasant afternoon.  I think some of my siblings are still worried that I'm okay, so it was good for all of us to peacefully visit the museum and come home for dinner, just like usual.  Or what's often been usual for events like Dad's birthday.

When we got back to my family's house, Katherine and Ben played a game of chess.  Back before Ben and I were married, Katherine would play a game with him nearly every night and she is quite a good player these days.  She says she's been playing "expert" on the computer, but it's not as much fun as Ben: "It takes too long and it isn't as hard," was her review.  It was such a nice day.

Ben and I sat and watched a short movie at the museum this afternoon and Ben said to me, "You know, I think in the entire time we've known each other, this is the first time we've gone to a movie.  How'd we manage that?"

I guess there was always so much to do that if we'd tried dating by the usual dinner and movie method, we'd still be on our third or fourth date.  Maybe.  Our method of doing all our normal things together is probably what allowed us to decide to get married and get there within a year; otherwise, it probably would've taken us five or six!

Ben wrote me an email the other night that was the kind of thing I've heard people just beginning to go out with someone often write.  It made me smile, both because it's pretty hard not to if someone loves you that much; and because I know he really does and this isn't just a new crush.  It's taken a year of knowing each other and three months of marriage before he's getting mushy like that; and that's the kind of foundation that has the staying power to last seventy years.  He didn't marry me because I kiss well (how would he know?  I didn't kiss him!) and he didn't marry me because I'm a supermodel, and he didn't marry me because I'm such an interesting person who goes on all kinds of adventures. He married me knowing an "adventure" would probably be an unexpected day at the museum with Chinese food for dinner and he would have to teach me what kissing was like and I'll certainly never be a model.  Just as I married him without going to the movies and without flowers and chocolates, but with a very good notion that he's the kind of man who can stand beside me in a hospital and keep me smiling even when things hurt.

If you were to ask me, "Is marriage what you expected?" I'd have to say not exactly.  These last three months have been so busy and so much has changed and there has been so much to get used to that it hasn't been quite what I pictured it.  But certain things have been much better.  I would never have gotten so much pleasure from a short trip to a museum before, even though I enjoyed going in the past.  Being married to Ben makes small ordinary things special, probably because we're doing them together.  It made our day out very nice indeed.