Marisa's Laughter Page

Read along in this column to see what kind of stuff I find to go along with my wild story this week. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes, a bit more serious. You never know!

Here's what Valentine's Day was like in the 70's.

Here's some of that dang ol' pillow talk music.

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Warning...these were last updated...a long time ago. Don't even remember when.

Enjoy!

If the lack of humor on this site REALLY offends you try this one:

www.marklowry.com

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Do you remember that kind of sitcom? Here's a hint (sorry I can't rotate it, you'll just have to turn your head)

www.walmart.com

Guys! Don't let this happen to you. Use tissue!

This year my hubby is giving me a bike for Valentine's Day. I know, it doesn't sound real romantic, and perhaps to some women it would seem like an insult. You know, "You just want me to be thinner! WAAAAAH!" But I'm kinda looking forward to the bike. I've been wanting a new bike for a long time.

Don't tell him (even though he knows) - but I got him the Beavis and Butthead collection from Time-Life. What do they want with Beavis and Butthead? I don't know. I asked him what he wanted, and he told me. So I bought it.

Here's a good Valentine's gift for the true Elvis fan.

www.crackerbarrel.com

A nice romantic place!

www.nascarcafe.com

My second choice for a romantic dinner!

www.wendys.com

Not where I prefer to spend Valentine's Day, but I do enjoy eating there, even though you-know-who isn't working there anymore. I hope.

Yes, you CAN see Snow White! Again!

This is who I'm going to see.

February 12, 2003

The Love Season

My last missive was about the 80's. In that same vein, and since it's THAT time of year, I feel like writing about love in the 80's, and beyond!

I hated Valentine's Day in the 80's. In the 70's it was okay because we had parties in elementary school, and then in '78, I got a baby brother that day. He didn't like having a Valentine's birthday much, but that's just too bad. If he'd arrived on the 5th like he was supposed to, he wouldn't have had to celebrate his big day on Valentine's.

The 80's were an emotional time for me anyway, since I entered my teens in 1980. I didn't have a boyfriend on even one Valentine's Day in high school. I DID have a date to the Valentine's Dance one year, but he was "just a friend" and not someone I felt really romantic toward. I thought he was nice, but nothing ever happened there.

I thought I was a real loser because I never got flowers at school, never got even a sweet Valentine card from a guy. I got my heart broken more than once on the big day. Back then radio stations didn't have parties like the "Bitterness Ball" for the dateless on Valentines. We just had all the sick little reminders like "Pillow Talk" time, when people called in their requests. Ugh. I feel like puking even now.

I can't say my high school Valentine's Days were quite as sad as that New Year's Eve my senior year (see the Jan. 26 edition for that story) but they weren't real memorable.

Love in high school, for me, was fairly memorable, but not extremely exciting. Here's an example.

A few weeks ago, I had several dreams about a guy I liked in high school. We'll call him Bobby, which isn't his name, but if he's reading this, he'll know how close that is to his real name. Honestly, I don't remember liking "Bobby" for very long, but apparently I did, because in my 1982 yearbook, I underlined his name, and his name only. I barely remember the dreams, but I knew when I had the third one that something was bugging me.

Bobby is two years older than me, the third of four brothers who lived (with their parents, of course) in a white brick split-level in a nice subdivision. I thought his family could've had a sitcom written about them, not because they were strange like TV families now, but because they were so cute, like sitcom families were back then. Four cute little boys who grew up to be four handsome teenagers, all with different interests, and if I'm not mistaken (and I might be) one of them is the father of triplets now. That would've been perfect for a sitcom!

The youngest brother was a year younger than me and was killed a few months ago in an accident. Maybe that's why I was subconsciously concerned about Bobby. I don't know.

This past Sunday, I ran into Bobby at Wal-Mart. Who needs classmates.com when you've got Wal-Mart? I know, most people get farther from home than I did...but not in my hometown. I strayed 20 miles away, and you'd think it was 2000 miles to hear some folks tell it.

I was glad to see him. He looked glad to see me! I couldn't help but wonder if he'd really liked me back in high school. I thought he did at one time. Back in "the day" he was real quiet and I wasn't, and he did something that made me mad (he picked his nose, knowing I was staring right at him) and I stopped having anything to do with him...until I started driving, and he was working at Wendy's, and my friends and I would torment him at the drive-thru...

"Welcome to Wendy's, may I take your order please?"

"Uh, I'd like a Big Mac please...uh, oops, I'm at the wrong drive-thru!" Giggles and laughs fill the car while we drive off...

It's a wonder he even spoke to me Sunday. If he liked me, he must've thought I was a real petty person to stop liking him because he picked his nose in front of me. Like I've never picked my nose! Heh, heh. Or maybe he thought our drive-thru antics were funny. But then, it's been 20 years, so maybe he's forgotten about all that. Then again, I didn't forget him picking his nose.

I guess, in a round-about way, I work in healthcare because of Bobby. On Columbus Day 1983, after he had already graduated (and was still working at Wendy's), we were out of school, and I took a fundraiser to the home of a friend, who had suggested I ask his parents, who ran the local drug store, to buy some of my wares. I was planning to go to Wendy's to fill out an application. Once the pharmacist found out I was looking for a job, he offered me one at the drug store. Needless to say, I never went to work with Bobby. In fact, I don't recall seeing him again until this past Sunday!

Of course, the drug store job lead to my desire to become a pharmacist, which led to me deciding to become a nurse, which led to my dream of becoming a doctor, which I quickly dropped to become a physical therapist, which didn't pan out, but eventually, I chose to become a nuclear medicine technologist, so there you have it. It's all Bobby's fault.

Beginning in 1988, I had a boyfriend - eventually, my husband - who bought goodies for me on the big romantic day every year. Some years the gifts have been pretty...well, for the sake of kindness we will say different. The year I got the Elvis tribute CD for Valentine's stands out. I got a dozen roses a couple of times. The first time, he was in trouble. The second time, I figured he was in trouble, but I think he was just trying to make up for the first time.

The Valentine's Day I remember best was 1995. I was very pregnant. In fact, I was scheduled to have labor induced the next day. We dropped our two-year-old daughter off at her aunt's house, and then went out to get what would be our last meal "out" for quite a while.

Since it was Valentine's Day, every nice restaurant in town had a long, long wait, even though we'd waited until 8 pm to get dinner. To make matters worse, we had a torrential downpour going on, not cold enough to be snow (it would've been about a foot if it had been) but too cold to be a nice, pleasant rain. We'd park the car, run in, then run back out once we heard the words "two hour wait."

Finally, we went to Cracker Barrel, where they sat us in a quiet corner with the light of an oil lamp. I remember sitting by a picture of an angel leading a little girl and boy away from a broken bridge. It made me want to cry, because I was so full of emotion I even cried the first 15 times my daughter made me watch "Snow White."

After that night, Cracker Barrel ranks right up there with the fanciest of establishments for a romantic dinner. We've even taken the kids there for Valentine's since then.

Valentine's is a lot like Christmas for us. In addition to my brother and my son, born the 15th of February, 1995, my brother-in-law and grandfather have birthdays that week too. And, my nephew and two cousins were born later in the month. Between all the get-togethers and all the presents and all the kids' activities, it gets kind of wild.

This year we will celebrate Valentine's Day with my in-laws, doing the birthday thing, of course. We're going to a hockey game on the 13th, which is an appropriate way for the hubby and me to celebrate a day of love. You know...we went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!

Well, maybe he won't pick his nose while we're in the car, or order a Big Mac from Wendy's.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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