Frozen Error

"Talk about a whirlwind romance," I said as I reached for another slice of pizza. "They met in college, got married after graduation, and boom, here we are."

"I know," my best friend replied, "but it's pretty cute, right?"

We were at the wedding reception and had just finished stuffing our faces with pizza. Now we were leaning against the bar railing, watching the bride and groom dance surrounded by their friends and family. It had been nearly three years since they'd gotten married but this was my first time meeting them. They'd lived in New York when they'd got married so there was no reason to fly out for the wedding. My girlfriend and I had though; she was a close friend of the bride so we'd made it a point to attend. Now they were back home in California while my girlfriend and I were stuck in Wisconsin until Monday morning.

I took a sip from my beer, then leaned over the railing to watch the bride and groom dance again. "Yeah, it is nice."

"So," my friend continued, "are you two still doing okay? Because sometimes it makes me sad how far away you guys are from each other."

I shrugged. "It's not so bad any more. We Skyped yesterday and we're planning on visiting each other over Thanksgiving break."

"That's good to hear," he said with a smile. "You guys are still young, though; maybe you shouldn't be apart like this." He looked down at his empty plate then set it down in front of him. "You know I've always wanted to visit New York City; why don't you bring your girlfriend here? You could even show us around." He raised an eyebrow at me as if to ask what was wrong with that idea. When I didn't answer right away he continued: "Or... maybe your girl can come here? She could stay with me and my wife; we have plenty of room." He motioned towards himself with his thumb before looking up at me again with a huge grin on his face. "What do you say? Shouldn't you guys spend some more time together?"

A few weeks later my girlfriend and I found ourselves driving across Wisconsin towards Minnesota. We were going there to visit her grandparents; they lived north of Minneapolis in St Paul near where she used to live when she went to school at the University of Minnesota. As for me, I was just tagging along; I didn't really have any family left, so visiting with her grandparents would have been nice had I actually liked them or something. Instead, I just felt like an extra package that had been added to all the gifts that were being sent across state lines. On top of that, now that I was unemployed (my boss had fired me for "being rude") we were broke, so every penny that went towards gas money felt like a drain on our wallets. So, needless to say, neither one of us was happy about this trip at all, but hey - we must do what we have to, right? And it wasn't as if this would be the last time either. We were planning on coming back for Thanksgiving break too, so we could see each other again before Christmas break started up next month. These grandparents weren't going anywhere soon, so why not make use of them? Maybe even bond with them, or at least become less estranged?

We drove into St Paul shortly before five o'clock that evening and arrived at her grandparents' house ten minutes later. Her grandmother answered the door twenty seconds after we knocked; she gave us warm hugs then pulled us into the house. We entered an open doorway between the kitchen area and the living room area, where her grandfather sat playing Bingo on his computer while seated in an old wooden rocking chair. He faced a large screen TV mounted above an old wooden mantel, which was above an old wooden fireplace. The fireplace housed a fire with coals glowing orange as if it were trying desperately to keep itself lit.

We settled into their house for a family visit, filled with dinner, television, and conversations – at least before we spent a restless night due to grandma's loud snoring. Despite the discomforts, we looked forward to spending Thanksgiving together and making the most of our time visiting loved ones – perhaps even finding new ways to connect with each other and her grandparents, who, after all, weren't going anywhere soon.