Wimpy Considers Cruising
The Super Bowl of Marriage Maintenance!
Mary has said the most memorable and best parts of our cruises are the things Wimpy does to surprise her. Wimpy views every cruise as an opportunity to practice some major marriage maintenance. He prepares for each cruise like a coach prepares for the big game. He thinks about all the things he could do to surprise his Mary. After much soul searching, he carefully formulates his game plan. He knows defense wins the big games in football, but it’s the strong well thought-out offense that’s needed for a super week of marriage maintenance. Read the details of some of Wimpy’s successful game plans. (Wives, you may want to send this link to your husband, or slip a copy of Wimpy’s Game Plans under his pillow! )
That Wimpy Character, Tom’s Cruise Persona:
Tom had been a Macho man most of his early life. In his latter years he began to realize when he did those little wimpy things for Mary, 
you know, those little wimpy things women like men to do; his lovely Mary gave him a lot more reason to smile. Although Tom was macho, he was no dum-dum. When Tom & Mary are at sea on another “Honeymoon,” he takes on the Wimpy persona to its highest degree. He views cruising as the “Super Bowl” of marriage maintenance and uses these occasions to do all sorts of lovely little wimpy things for his Mary. His credo is: “A marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance is done on earth.”
Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas, Mary’s Birthday Cruise, November 2001
I wanted to do something special for Mary’s Birthday. Surprising someone you love is not always easy. It’s nice when your spouse hears you speak words of love, but it is much nicer and more appreciated when you put your pen to paper and write her a love note. I believe Mary has saved every love note I have ever given her and I have done the same. Mary is very sentimental and loves to receive a note of endearment or an occasional bouquet of flowers. I remember a quote that said, “A marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance must be done on earth.”
I looked at Mary’s birthday as a great opportunity to do some major maintenance. I decided I would write three love notes and give them to her at different times during the cruise. And I would give her a bouquet of Roses, in a very special way. I think you will enjoy reading what happened when I enlisted our cabin steward Aris in helping me to surprise Mary.
Besides three love notes I wrote Mary, that I planned giving her at appropriate times, I wanted to give her flowers. We cruise on our Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentine Days, so it isn’t unusual for me to give Mary a bouquet of flowers. Nevertheless, this time I thought I would do something different. I thought it would be romantic if each night when we returned to our cabin, Mary would find a Rose on her pillow. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea, but how to do it was a problem. I couldn’t speak to the flower man because the flower cart was not open until 5:30. The only answer was to ask my pal Aris, our Indonesian cabin attendant, if he could help me. Earlier in the evening I went into the hall and found Aris, and I asked him if he knew of a way that I could carry out my plan. He listened intently; when I had finished he had a big smile on his face and he said, “Me do.” I asked him if he was sure he could do it; another big smile and a “Me do.”
When we returned to our room that evening, I opened the cabin door and lying there on Mary’s pillow, a little limp but as pretty as could be, a long stemmed red rose. When she saw it she picked it, inhaled its aroma, and then gave me a big hug and big kiss. A wise man once said, “It’s wise to ply a wife with compliments and expressions of love.” I held Mary tightly in my arms and told her, “Of the many achievements in my life, without a doubt the greatest was when I persuaded you to marry me.” We shared a tender moment. Needless to say, it was another one of those irreplaceable moments… but, my story doesn’t end here.
As it often happens, even in the most romantic moments something humorous occurs. When I spoke to Aris about putting a rose on the pillow, I told him to do it every night and to make sure each rose was a different color.
And to make sure the flower man puts the stem of the rose in a vial with water, and I told him not to forget to put a vase with water on Mary’s night table. I wanted her to be able to put the Rose that was on her pillow in the vase and in this way by the end of the cruise she will have a full bouquet of Roses. Aris was so excited about being my partner in this romantic escapade; he forgot to tell the flower man about the vial or the vase. You guessed it, by the time Mary finished her shower her beautiful red rose was laying limply on the pillow, in desperate need of water. We made an attempt to resurrect it, but it was too late. But all was not lost. The next morning I told Aris what happened and he said, “Me very sorry.” I felt bad for Aris. Here this poor little guy, needing every bit of his energy to take care of his fourteen cabins, and I had him running back and forth to the flower man. I told him not to worry, these things happened. Aris more than made up for his lapse of memory and for the remainder of the cruise he followed instructions to a tee. Each evening when we returned to our cabin Mary found a beautiful rose on her pillow… and Wimpy would help Mary put the rose in the vase… and then wait for Mary’s embrace… another tender moment to add to our collection of memories.
Wimpy earned additional credits with Mary with morning and dinner surprises. It was a lot of fun to keep on surprising Mary and I want you to know, not only did I do a lot of smiling during the cruise, but since I’ve been home, I find myself smiling, even when there isn’t anything to smile about.
Being I’ve mentioned collecting memories, I thought you might like to know what inspired us to consciously go about collecting memories. We read two articles that convinced us that collecting memories in our latter years was a worthwhile endeavor. We first came across an article by John Powell who said, “Things we do today are tomorrow’s memories. Some memories happen but other memories must be planned. It’s important to plan things because they keep playing as memories in one’s mind and heart forever.” He finished by saying, “Half of what we are is determined by the memories we have.”
Then shortly after, I came across this meditation about the renowned traveler Niebuhr.
Tom & Mary’s Teaspoon of Spiritual Nourishment
http://www.tomandmaryspage.com
Memories Are Pictures Lining The Walls Of Our Heart
NIEBUHR, the distinguished traveler, became blind in his old age. But, having traversed many lands, amid the fairest and loveliest 
scenes of the world, he had stored away in his memory countless pictures of landscapes, mountain-scenery, vales of rare beauty and great and splendid cities. Then, as he lay upon his bed or reposed on his easy-chair, his face would often brighten into a rich glow, as if some inner light was shining through. He was pondering once more some splendid scene he had looked upon in the sunny Orient. The chamber-walls of his memory were hung all over with pictures, which filled his darkened years with joy and beauty. It mattered not to him that the light had gone out, leaving thick gloom all about him. His heart was his world, and there was no darkness there. No putting out of sun or star could obscure the pictures that hung in that sacred house of his soul.
In a far truer sense than many of us are aware do our hearts make our world for us. The things we behold are but the shadows of the things that are in us. If we have bright pictures in our heart, the whole world, wherever we go, will be a picture-gallery. Every scene will be a panorama of beauty. The most repulsive objects will wear a tinge of loveliness. On the other band, a somber, cheerless heart clothes the whole world in shadow and gloom….Week-Day Religion… J. R. Miller
May your next cruise be your best,
Our Warm regards,
Tom & Mary Milano
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