I wrote this a couple years ago, but it happened 33 years ago.
The Surprise
Christa Upton
There was once a very handsome young man, who was very kind, intelligent, and talented. He was hard-working and full of integrity. But he was also very quiet. Most of the time, unless he had something important to say, he didn’t say anything.
There was one exception to this—his fiancée. He could talk for a long time about anything and everything with her. She loved him very much and could not wait to get married. But other people did not know of his warm, fun conversational ability.
While they were dating, he had met his fiancée’s family a number of times. The girl’s parents were very pleased to have him in their home. They loved his integrity, musicianship, and work ethic. They didn’t have an extra bedroom, but he was so gracious about crashing on the couch.
They grilled chicken for him, complete with fun appetizers for Happy Hour while the meat cooked. They asked him about college and his interests. They welcomed him into their sitting garden for brunches of Dad’s special crepes. But they wondered—would this quiet, serious man be right for their mirthful, exuberant daughter?
One visit, the girl and her sister got out the old records—64 RPM records with wonderful little children’s stories on them. Their mother, sitting on the couch across the room, smiled.
“Oh, let’s do this one next!” exclaimed the sister. She held up a beloved record of Arnold Lobel’s Owl at Home.
A minute later, the story “Tear-water Tea” came through the speakers, narrated by a male with a strong “radio voice.”
Suddenly, the handsome, serious, hard-working young man transformed into “Owl.” He began acting out the story as it was narrated, complete with very sad owl faces and dramatic arm movements.
By the end of the story, the sisters were laughing so hard they were almost rolling on the floor. Their mother laughed, too, and smiled knowingly.
Now the family knew what the daughter had known all along—this was exactly the right man for her.
