Our second Christmas and the origins of the "fun hunt"

I was just trying for something unique and interesting and while I couldn't find the nesting boxes that would have required multiple unwrapping, and wrapping, to start it out, it also ended up being a labor saving device, my labor.  Besides, the boxes would have been better suited to something small, like jewelry, and my present was big.  I was continuing a tradition begun in the previous year of gifting special cookware, a copper clad wok, and unbeknownst to me, starting a longer lasting tradition that I would take up again once our children could read.  (Just as Marilyn much later let me know that gifting food related items was not the most romantic of choices, she kept the clues for some time, letting me know that she thought them part of the present.)

Indeed, a "fun hunt" is a series of clues written somewhat obscurely that ultimately lead to a present.  It is much more fun with an audience so I was truly appreciative that my two then unmarried sisters could be present to witness and join in the laughing.  It also helps with large, unwrapped, and less than perfect presents.

The rest of this topic is best told by pictures, but first let me set the stage.

We had been in Houston for less than a year, which meant that I had very little vacation accrued.  (Marilyn was still doing temporary work and could have taken off any amount of time but chose to stay with me, which was to be expected but also a great present on its own.)  Besides, we were in the process of looking for a house and may have already committed to one.  So if lack of vacation time wouldn't have kept us from traveling, the lack of money certainly would have.  Our small two bedroom apartment was a limited palette with which to paint a truly "fun hunt," but she appeared to have "fun," which was the whole purpose.  (It also made up for a less than stirring present.  She did use the wok and a later birthday gift of a Cuisinart Food Processor rather extensively but after she commented on them I moved on to other gifts, silk, that also kept on giving, but unfortunately which she used far fewer times.)

The fun hunt started with a simple Christmas card.

I can't remember the order but since it was a kitchen item, the kitchen was figured prominently.  This time it was the utility drawer.

As small as it was, I still ran her all over and back and forth in the apartment.  This picture was hung in our bedroom.  (It was a gift from her best friend taken on the bike trip they took through Europe of a hostel they stayed at one of the nights.)

Back to the kitchen.  At least the clue didn't have time to frost over but she did have to move some stuff.

And finally behind the toilet.  She was a little surprised that I would use such a location and as a result had to be helped figuring out just where the final clue was.

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Marilyn lost her life to cancer but was able to truly "live" until the very end due to a lymphedema garment from Don Kellogg, inventor and founder of Telesto-Medtech. It is due to the "living" he provided Marilyn and through his suggestion and connection with Saskia Thiadens of the National Lymphedema Network that the Marilyn Westbrook Garment Fund exists. It needs other people's help to remain a living memorial of Marilyn. Please help other people receive the gift of living by donating to the Marilyn Westbrook Garment Fund. Thank you.

Our first Christmas, where she accepts

After the fantastic adventure vacation, I thought visiting my family for Christmas would be anti-climatic but in many ways was more stressful, not because of my family but because of my gift. It had to be something she would like and since she hadn’t said yes, it couldn’t be too intimate, besides, I had already treated her to some Indian jewelry while in Arizona. Eventually I settled on high quality copper clad cookware. I can’t remember whether there was only the omelet pan and the skillet but I know the wok came later. I did give her mother some jewelry, which Marilyn didn’t know about until after she said yes but was a good back up plan, even though it wasn’t planned.

I was sensitive to at least one aspect of putting my best foot forward, I didn’t take her in the back way like my Mother did to my Father the first time he met her parents. I don’t know whether my Mother had already said yes or whether my Father had even asked yet but I knew Marilyn was a city gal and would probably not be impressed by an extra 30 miles or so of winding mostly dirt roads. It would have made the farm that much further into the wilderness. Besides, the mile lane with a portion through the creek was wild enough.

Needless to say, Marilyn fit right in. She even held my oldest sister’s first born without too much of the deer-in-the-headlight look.

It wasn’t until she was driving the two of us away that she finally said yes. My memory of whatever was said before the yes is gone. She said, “Yes!” She claimed that she wasn’t sure I asked her the first time and wasn’t going to give me an answer anyway until she had met my family. If I had known that this was the condition I would have been even more stressed.

One of the highlights of my parents' place was and is the food. I was thinner then because I was living on love.

The reason Marilyn was driving, I found out on the way to my parents that she suffered from motion sickness that is aggravated by being a passenger and alleviated by the focus allowed by driving. Letting her drive my 280Z was probably the icing on the cake to getting the right answer but I really didn’t do it for that reason. After we were married, I let her drive it quite often for other reasons, but those are other stories.

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Marilyn lost her life to cancer but was able to truly "live" until the very end due to a lymphedema garment from Don Kellogg, inventor and founder of Telesto-Medtech. It is due to the "living" he provided Marilyn and through his suggestion and connection with Saskia Thiadens of the National Lymphedema Network that the Marilyn Westbrook Garment Fund exists. It needs other people's help to remain a living memorial of Marilyn. Please help other people receive the gift of living by donating to the Marilyn Westbrook Garment Fund. Thank you.