If you looked up the word "spontaneous" in the dictionary, my name and picture would not be there. Now if you look up, say, "hypochondriac" it might, but that is a whole other blog topic. ;)
I have never really been spontaneous. I have never thought to myself on a Friday afternoon, "I should go somewhere fun this weekend" and then do it. I need to have some sense of order in my life (when it comes to planning anyway). I have gotten a bit better with this as I have gotten older, but I still would never identify myself as a spontaneous person. However, there was one time that I surprised even myself with my spontaneity.
Back when Jim and I had just begun talking, before we had even moved to phone conversations, we somehow got on the topic of chocolate. (OK for those that know either of us, this is not a surprise!) We were talking about chocolate bars that we available in the United States that were not available here in Canada, and vice versa. I had mentioned a chocolate bar called "Kinder Bueno". These, for the most part, are not available in the United States, but are widely available in Canada as well as many parts of Europe. Jim had vacationed in Ireland, and so he not only had heard of the Kinders but he had tried some in Ireland. He kept joking with me that I should send him some.
I had realized that when he sent emails from work, his signature at the bottom had his work address. I started to wonder if I should surprise him with the Kinders and mail them to his work. I quickly nixed the idea, because I was concerned that he would think I was some sort of stalker. I mean up until this point, we had only been emailing back and forth. If he would have done something like that, I definitely would have been freaked out, so he surely would as well.
But the thought remained with me, and he kept mentioning the kinders. I thought there was a slight chance he would think it was a cute gesture, so I threw caution to the wind and started to work on my plan. I first needed to make sure that I had the right information, so I managed to work in some very sneaky conversations about his job. When I was certain I had the right information, I went out and bought the kinders. I bought 5 of them for him and bought a little card to go with it. Before I knew what I was doing, I mailed it off!
If I had really thought about it enough, I would have known better. But, my spontaneity had gotten the better of me! Immediately after I sent it, I got really nervous. I was certain he would be freaked out. Luckily, the kinders took awhile to arrive and by the time they did, we had already been skyping and talking on the phone for a week or so.
He received them at work and was so thrilled! He couldn't believe I would be so thoughtful to mail him the chocolate from so far away. The only glitch to my plan was that he had given up chocolate for Lent so I basically tempted him with them. But, he put them away and kept them in a safe place for Easter when he would eat them.
By the time Easter rolled around, he and I were no longer talking. It had gotten really hard for me not get invested, when he was still contemplating the priesthood, so it was a bittersweet time for him. Now, it didn't stop him from eating most of the Kinders though. Once he only had one Kinder left, he realized he couldn't eat it. At first I think he felt that if he ate it, it would seem more real to him him that I was really gone from his life (Of course we all know now I wasn't gone for long). But soon, it became a symbol for making a decision.
He decided to put that last Kinder in the freezer and not eat it until he knew where God was leading him. If he was leading him to marriage, he would eat that Kinder with me. When he finally realized God was leading him toward marriage and we started dating, we talked about whether or not we should eat the Kinder. We felt it was best to wait until we were officially married and living out our Sacrament to share the Kinder together. And so, the Kinder is still in the freezer and we plan on eating it on our wedding night. It will be symbolic of all we have been through to get to that point.
Lets hope it is not freezer burnt! ;)
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