While many associate April 1 with April Fool's Day and practical jokes,
it is actually the anniversary of our first "date". When Arthur called
me up to ask me out I told him he would have to wait about week since I
was studying for my board exams. The day after the test was April 1, my
first free day from studying, so we agreed to meet then for ice cream.
I about had second thoughts and had cold feet about going down to meet
Arthur for the date but that would have been a cruel joke. After all it
was just one date- how bad could it be? We ate ice cream, walked
around campus talking, and wound up at the campus art museum. As we
perused the exhibits we tried to guess the name of each piece without
looking at the name plate-- our percentage was very low.
A few weeks later we were on an outing on the local bike trail. While we were
riding along somehow the conversation lead Arthur to think it was a
great time to give me a personality test. The test included three
questions. What is your favorite animal and why? What is your favorite
natural phenomenon and why? And what is your favorite color and why?
This story focuses around the first question. Arthur asked me and I
replied that I like moose because they are gangly and awkward, big, and
graceful in the water. But I have commitment issues and then changed my
favorite animal to a wildebeest-- I like to cover all my bases with
multiple answers. Arthur then answered the question with a border
collie because they are eager to please, obedient, and loyal. I then
asked Arthur what this question had to do with personality. Arthur
answered that the answer to your favorite animal is what you are looking
for in a spouse. At this point I'm pretty sure I turned white as a
sheet or blushed- I'm not sure which. With my answer of a moose I had
basically described Arthur to a tee. Arthur is a big guy, he is a
little awkward and gangly when he tries to skip. However, he is very
athletic and was doing a lot of swimming at that time to prepare for his
summer job as a lifeguard. According to this test he was my perfect
match and that terrified me at that time. On the flip side it also
scared me a little that he was looking for a "border collie" wife.
Someone who would by obedient and quick to follow his every command, who
would heel right by his side wherever he went, and a gal that would
fall all over herself trying to please him. Well, that sure wasn't me.
If that is what he wants than this guy just needs to keep looking.
Interesting side story: this personality test is one that Arthur loves
to give to all his friends, and it has been amazingly accurate in
predicting comparability. One friend however, gave a very memorable
answer to this question: when asked what his favorite animal was, he
responded with a cow. This is hilarious enough in itself, but when he
described why it get even better; he liked cows because they are "tasty,
stupid, and easy to control." This particular friend happens to still
be in the market if any of you single ladies out there are interested.
Several months later we talked about this conversation again. One
reason I had been hesitant to really start dating Arthur was that he
wanted a "border collie" wife. In this later conversation I explained
my feelings about this and he laughed. He pointed out that I was only
remembering part of his answer on that fateful bike ride. His version
of the answer was that border collies are incredibly intelligent, very
hard workers, but also very playful in addition to loyal, obedient, and
eager to please. At that point my thought was, "Oh shoot, maybe I am
little bit of a border collie." Of course the rest of the story is
history. I married my moose and Arthur got his version of a
border collie wife. I'm pretty sure all the research and data collected
by eHarmony isn't as accurate as Arthur's personality test question on
this very early date to predict future matrimony. Despite Alex's
initial hesitation, Omnia Vincit Amor.
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