Yes, You Heard Me Correctly!

“It had been 24 years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same,” as that thought suddenly crossed my mind. All I could think about were quotes from that book, A Tale of Two Cities. The 1859 historical novel by Charles Dickens, set in London where a man just like me found love during the French Revolution. While I found true love right after the Impact Investment ESG Banking Conference in London.

London is where I met and fell madly in love with Aoife, pronounced EE-fa. I was trying to find some pet food that my fiancée Matilda’s Shih Tzu purse dog Shelia could adjust to, while not trying hard enough to digest cheap dog food from a foreign country.

It was bequeathed that it was my fault that I didn’t want to pay the extra and expensive baggage fees for a ton of Eukanuba dog food at a cost of 75 cent a pound. I found a specialty pet store called Angel Pet Supplies located at 73 Chapel Market Islington, London N1 9ER.

In the back of the store they had a small room in which I seen a lovely human being testing the pet food in which you could purchase for your pet. The tag on her smock displayed Aoife, who was a pet food tester.

Yes, you heard me correctly!

After my initial shocked I asked her why? She batted her large doe like looking green eyes and proudly stated as a pet food tester I personally evaluate the nutritional value of pet food and yes, taste-test it. You Americans must know that taste is important, but nutrition is the key to healthy pets. I shook my head in agreement. Heck, I would have believed that the London Bridge was truly falling down at that particular time. Bon Appetit!

As I took the dog food that she recommended, called Royal Canin Shih Tzu Adult wet dog food designed to meet the nutritional needs of that purebred Shih Tzus spoiled dog Shelia.

Again quotes from A Tale of Two Cities arose out of the clear blue. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” How could I confront my fiancée Matilda that I no longer wanted to put up with her and her selfish queenish ways and her prudent dog any longer.

I had saved enough money for over two years for us to travel abroad ($40,000). In return all I received was how bad the Thames River smelled from our Henley-on-Thames Studio Apartment. The apartment featured a memory foam super king size bed, a double sofa bed, a dining and coffee table, an iron, an private bathroom, a bathtub & shower, a bidet shower and linen and towels. The studio also featured a hair-dryer and a SMART TV with a Blu-Ray player. Sky Satellite TV was also provided with Sky HD included. A fully-equipped kitchen available for guests to use (like Queen Elisabeth II was really going to come visit that mean spirited delusional Queen Matilda and her fancy highfalutin dog Shelia) and included complimentary bread, croissant, eggs, cheese, cereals, butter & jam, juices, milk, yogurt, bacon, sausages, baked beans, fruit, tomato, onions, teas and coffees. Oils, sauces, herbs and spices were also provided in the kitchen cabinet.

The sole purpose for our stay in London was so that she could miraculously meet and have tea with Queen Elisabeth II.

Yes, you heard me correctly!

Every day here in London I tried to convince her that, that will never happen unless she would happen to die a royal death. Then you, Queen Matilda could perhaps meet her in Heaven (or Hell). Alternatively, you could find a good medium and ask him/her to summon up the Queen of England at a séance. The Queen of England might or might not choose to appear, though. Matilda found no humor in my thought provoking realism. In fact on numerous occasion she waved me off just like the real Queen of England would hand gesturally display to her loyal servants.

I can’t say that I ever felt guilty about abandoning Queen Matilda and that prig (a self-righteously moralistic dog who behaves as if its superior to others) dog Shelia.

I’m thinking like Martin Luther King Jr. “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.” 

As I took an affordable room at the Holiday Inn London at $46 a night. It gave me more time to convince Aoife to following my dream of us becoming one. After about a month and a half of romancing the stones and discovering Aoife and I, likes and dislikes my heart convinced her to come back across the pond with me.

After sightseeing the Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building up close and in person. It wasn’t long before her heart would forget briefly about London, although I wanted to give her time there with me before we’d moved forward and get married. Remembering that there may be parts of my culture she may dislike or disapprove of, knowing these are part of a broader social system and therefore making more sense inside that system. Adjusting to a new culture does not mean that she would have to change her own values, but it is important to respect those of other people.

It wasn’t long after our coming to America that she got pregnant with the first of our 3 children. Although Aoife couldn’t find work as a Pet Food Tester. Somehow, someway she got a job as a Furniture Tester.

Yes, you heard me correctly!

I wasn’t aware that furniture companies like Lazy Boy, took huge pride in the comfort and luxury associated with their reclining products and always aim to get things perfect. Although all companies have a quality assurance department that tests the durability and resilience of the materials used in their products, Lazy Boy takes an extra step towards customer satisfaction. While machines undoubtedly do the job, they lack the human touch and ultimately the ability to feel if the piece of furniture created has any hot spots or pinching. That’s where Aoife Furniture Tester job came to complete that company’s quality assurance.

Yes, you heard me correctly!

Time flew by quickly as she and I awoke one day to discover we were now living in an empty nest. Lo and behold she seductively whispered in my ear a quote from A Tale of Two Cities “, I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” that she long to return to London.

We packed our bags immediately. It had been 24 years since she last seen the place in which we met.  

A quote from Charles Dickens precipitously entered my mind as I whispered in her ear “For you and for any dear to you, I would do anything. If my career were of that better kind that there was any opportunity or capacity of sacrifice in it, I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. Try to hold me in your mind, at some quiet times, as ardent and sincere in this one thing. The time will come, the time will not be long in coming, when new ties will be formed about you ties that will bind you yet more tenderly and strongly to the home you so adorn the dearest ties that will ever grace and gladden you. O my sweet Aoife, when the little picture of a loving husband’s face looks up in yours, when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!” The little pet store looked the same except that they no longer had a pet tester room, that small change in the pet store didn’t really  matter because we now had one another.

Yes, you heard me correctly!