We Made The Papers!
About 22 years ago, Jim and I went on our 1st date. Not a particularly memorable occasion (at least for me) – or so I thought at the time. We went to Popular Creek to see Air Supply with tickets I had. It rained buckets and lightening lit up the sky at the end of the concert – in fact the power at Poplar Creek went out for a while, but Air Supply went on to do their finale.
Once the concert was over we ended up at White Castle in Franklin Park and talked till the wee hours of the night. I didn’t think we had a future – for many reasons.
Well here we are…..married 20 + years. Who’da thought? Reminiscing about that 1st date it occurred to me that Poplar Creek is gone…….Air Supply is who knows where…...but White Castle remains.
Reading in the paper on Sunday, I found out that White Castle has a special Valentines Day Promotion so I decided to take advantage of it as a surprise for Jim. It certainly needed to be a “cheap date”. The tables had red tablecloths, flowers, a candle and a special menu. Instead of going to the counter it was sit down and wait on me. They even brought complimentary appetizers - 2 onion rings, 2 chicken rings & 2 fish nuggets on a small paper plate!Reservations were required. Not all White Castles were participating in this event, and naturally the one closest to home was not. The Franklin Park store was booked so we went to the one in Algonquin. What a HOOT!
As if all this wasn't enough, a short time after we sat down and ordered, a young man came over and said he was from The Daily Herald, and would we mind if he interviewed us. We told him our story and he was on his way. About 10 minutes later another young man with a large camera came in the restaurant - he went from table to table until finally we heard him saying "Are you the Abernathy's?" The reporter had contacted the photographer.
Today, on the front page no less, was our picture! On page 3 was the cutest poem with a 1 inch, 6 column headline:
A Valentine Poem With A Side of Fries
by Jeffrey Gaunt
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Like many fairy tales, this one has a castle
It's ramparts removed their Valentine's Day hassle
Her name is Judie, he goes by James
They were younger then, but the food was the same.
Twenty-two years ago they had their first date
The place was White Castle; they stayed there quite late.
For hours they talked, with love in the air
He ate cheesburgers, she her usual fare.
Judie's from Schaumburg, Jim from Ohio
They've been a pair now for, oh, quite a while.
Abernathy's their name, if you've seen them around
They now live together in Judie's home town
Twenty years of marriage and now here they were
Cupid's day was approaching for this boy and this girl.
As luck would have it, Judie heard in the news
White Castle was holding a Valentines cruise
Down memory lane as it were for the Abernathys
They drove to Lake in the Hills to see what was happening.
They sat at a table, a flower between them,
Friendly waiters stopped by to smile and to greet them
On this day, you see, White Castle had a special:
A side serving of love, with a chance to nestle.
Close to the one you love if you had reservations.
Judie had called without hesitation.
So there they were, the boy and the girl
Eyes for no other in all of the world.
They reminisced, they laughed and they had a great time
It was White Castle remember so they saved a few dimes.
Now here we are at the end of our story
Of love on display in all of its glory.
Our princess and prince are happy together
And if White Castle has a say, it will be there forever
If you take something away from thes fairy tale story
Know that love could be anywhere, in the night or the morning.
Over caviar and duck, or burgers and fries
Love has no taste buds - it's all in the eyes.
posted by Judie @ 5:03 PM
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