The Perfect Hero

A Perfect Hero

It was a beautiful morning and Wilfred knew life would never be better. He turned on his side and looked at his wife. Wilfred and Edith had been married for fifty years that morning, and little to his wife’s knowledge there was a huge party planned in honor of their marriage. He sat up in bed and gathered his dentures off of the end table. Popping them into place, he stood up and stretched for a minute. After having both hips replaced ten years before, his joints became stiff and Wilfred couldn’t start the day without a little workout.

Edith awoke to hear Wilfred’s groaning as he reached down to touch his toes. A few seconds later, he straightened himself up and walked slowly towards the bathroom. Wilfred had the same morning routine ever since they married, with the exception of the dentures of course. Edith would lay there and watch him sometimes; he always looked so peaceful. She felt so lucky to be married to her first love, and for fifty years! That was something not many could beat. Edith looked back upon their first date with great fondness.

It was the summer of 1940 and they were both seventeen years old. Wilfred was working at his uncle’s farm in North Carolina and Edith helped her family work the local diner. Walking to the town’s general store one morning, Wilfred caught a glimpse of Edith almost dancing around the diner as she brought the customers their orders. She was beautiful; young and blonde, seeming so happy with life and everything it had to offer. Wilfred walked by the diner for weeks before finally gaining the courage to go inside and talk to his “angel”. He finally decided it was the right moment, only having three weeks left before he was to go home to West Virginia.

“Ding, ding, ding!” the bells of the door grabbed the attention of the entire restaurant, including Edith, as Wilfred entered.

“It’s the boy from the farm,” she whispered to her sister, who was a year older and also worked with the family. “He’s so handsome!” Little did Wilfred know, Edith was just as much an admirer of him as he was of her. She was confident that he had seen her walking by the gates of his uncle’s house after she left work. Now that he was finally near her, she was at a loss for words.

“Go take his order, don’t just let him sit there!” scolded her sister playfully.

“Alright, alright,” Edith agreed, and she slowly walked to the back of the room.
Wilfred chose a booth in the very back, planning to just watch her work, not actually talk to her. He saw her turn, and begin to walk over to him. His heartbeat raced with every step she took until she finally stopped next to his table.
“Hi,” she said shyly and began to blush, “what can I get you this afternoon?”

“Uhh, how about a ham and cheese sandwich and some lemonade?” he asked her, unsure of himself. Edith giggled to herself. It was adorable how nervous he was.

“Sounds good.” Edith replied and turned to walk away.

“I was wondering if maybe you could join me,” Wilfred suggested, making both of their faces red with embarrassment.

“I don’t know, we’re short on waitresses today…” she shrugged and walked away before he could reply. As soon as she rounded the corner into the kitchen she leaned against the wall and sighed. “What is wrong with me?!” she asked out loud.

“Nothing’s wrong anymore, I just talked to Will and cleared everything up. Now go eat lunch with the boy!” her sister Anne replied from behind her.

“What have you done? What did you tell him?” Edith screamed at her sister.

“Don’t worry about it, take off your apron and go!”

Completely humiliated, she walked back over to Will’s table. “Umm, I’m sorry about Anne,” she apologized.

“I don’t mind. She knew we were both too nervous for our own good, and she wanted to help us break the ice. I’m Wilfred, but for God’s sake, call me Will,” he said and offered his hand. Edith chuckled and shook his hand. “And you’re Edith, right?”

“Yes, that’s me,” she said with a smile across her face.

“That’s a good thing too, or else you’d be wearing the wrong name tag!”

Edith glanced down to her chest and saw the pin with her name in bold letters across it. She was glad he was trying to be funny; it took a lot of pressure off of her.

They talked all afternoon over endless lemonade and snacks. As the diner started to close before dinner hours, Wilfred made his move.

“This weekend there’s a dance at the town hall…would you like to go with me?”

“Of course I will” she said, looking him straight in the eyes.

The rest of the week was a blur. Wilfred and Edith spent every waking moment together, leading up to the big night. Edith had a brand new sundress to wear and Wilfred was picking her up at 6 p.m. sharp. She put her hair up, leaving a few ringlets right in front of her face and lightly applied some blush to her cheeks. The doorbell rang while she was still upstairs and her mother let Wilfred in. As the doors closed behind him, Wilfred’s eyes became fixed upon a figure at the top of the stairs.

With each step as she descended the staircase, Wilfred realized how perfect Edith really was. Her dress flowed down to a little past her knees, and she looked gorgeous in it.

“Wow,” he whispered when she came close, “You look amazing.”

“Why thank you, you look quite handsome yourself.” Edith said with a smile and gave Wilfred a kiss on the cheek.

Wilfred and Edith walked to the dance hand in hand, and then danced the night away. The world seemed to stand still that night as they danced together, but eventually the evening caught up with them and came to an end. As they were walking back to Edith’s house, Wilfred stopped and turned to face her.

“I don’t know how to say this…” Wilfred began. “This past week has been the best week of my entire life. I have to leave town soon and go back home, but I can’t unless I know you’ll be here waiting for me.”

“What are you trying to say? Edith replied with a tremble in her voice.

“Um...I guess what I’m trying to ask you is ‘Will you marry me?’ If we got married, I’d never have to leave your side and go back to West Virginia. My uncle could let me stay at the farm and we could live in a spare house on his property. Its not much, but we’ll make it through.” Edith began to cry and buried her head in Wilfred’s chest. “If you don’t want to, I’ll understand.” He said boldly as he stroked her hair.

“No, I would love to marry you.” She replied, gazing up at him through tears of joy.

Three months later they were married, and with the next twenty years they had four children. John, Stephen, Anthony, and Suzette were their names. Edith and Wilfred raised them all in Edith’s hometown and as they got older, the children decided to follow in their families footsteps. Pretty soon, the Maushingtine family was the most popular in town, and their reputation was spotless. Anyone observing the family in their everyday interactions could easily see the love that they shared. Edith and Wilfred were each other’s very first love, and nothing could ever come between them.

Edith couldn’t believe that it had been fifty years already; the time had flown by so fast. “Honey?” she called to the other room.

“Yes, I’m almost ready!” Wilfred yelled back. He laughed quietly to himself as he thought about the surprise that lay in the store. She believed she was going to a doctor’s appointment, but in reality almost one hundred of their family and friends were going to be waiting for them at a clubhouse in their retirement complex.

They got into their Oldsmobile and before leaving the complex he asked Edith to run a payment inside to the main office. Wilfred told her that he would go with her anyways and they both began to walk to the door. As soon as they entered the building, the lights were flicked on and everyone was revealed.

“Oh my word!” Edith squealed with tears in her eyes. Everyone they knew was in the same room just to celebrate with Edith and Wilfred.

“Will, you’re my hero,” Edith whispered into Wilfred’s ear, “thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” Wilfred replied, and hugged Edith.

They had spent more than half their lifetime loving each other and they planned on the next half being exactly the same. Wilfred really was Edith’s hero…he loved her and made her life a dream. If only all of us could be so lucky.