A Man, A Woman, and the Count
I was on the brink of marital bliss, one step away from ‘til death do us part. Then, in the blink of an eye, it all came crashing down.
“What do you mean you’ve never read a book?” I asked. This couldn’t be happening. I was a writer, a poet, a dreamer and, most of all, a book lover.
“Well, I think I read a book in high school,” my soon to be sweetie said sheepishly. “There’s a picture of me reading one anyway.”
Your mother always warns you that you can’t change a man and marrying him will not make it better. Still, I had to try. My goal was set and my heart determined that I would have this man and he would be a reader!
Growing up, I read everything I could get my hands on. My young mind was opened up and waiting for ideas and information to seep into every crevice of my brain. Still, it wasn’t until senior year in high school that I met Alexander Dumas and The Count of Monte Cristo. I realize now that, had it been any other book that stole my heart, I may not be married to the man I now call my husband. A book that encompasses such intrigue in the plot and such humanity in a search for revenge is meant to capture even the hard to reach. Once you embark on the Count’s journey, there is no turning back. The characters are diverse and complex (not to mention so plentiful you need a master list to remember who is who) and worthy of a modern day soap opera, minus the aliens.
The Count well deserves the category of “classic.” However, being that is wasn’t a classic car, it needed to capture the imagination of someone who never had felt the rush of reading for enjoyment. I was betting it would.
The project began as I handed over my tattered copy of the book with great anticipation. Finally, we were to share one of the most significant pieces of my life. It represented a turning point in my own literary world and would impact characters and plots that formed in my own writing. I sighed and smiled as I put it into his waiting hands.
“Okay. I’ll read it while I’m at the gym,” he said.
I almost pulled it back. I wasn’t sure what drops of sweat might do to my precious book. Maybe I should buy him his own copy or check out a copy at the library, I thought. I closed my eyes and decided that no, it had to be my copy that went with him, and the hopes of our relationship with it.
Days passed into weeks and weeks passed into a month. Every so often I’d receive an update. Unable to control myself after the first month, I asked what was taking so long.
“I told you, I’m reading it while I work out,” he said calmly. “I’m about halfway through, I think.”
How could anyone take months to read what took me only three days? How could a person possibly just stop reading? Don’t you ever go on to the next chapter simply because you can’t possibly wait to find out what happens? My hopes were again dashed. Then one day, well after our matrimonial vows had been said, he came to me.
“I’m finished,” he said.
I held my breath and waited. He teased me with more silence. Finally, his words spilled out.
“Wow—it was great! But, I owe you a new book. It got quite a workout and is pretty beat up. Does he have anything else good to read?”
After recovering from the shock of the book’s condition, I gleefully announced we were going to the library. There were so many authors for him to meet.
He settled on Ludlum right away and has worked his way around to others. But the fact remains that I married well. We share a mutual respect for our books (even through multiple moves that caused us to pack and haul them repeatedly) and I have proved that at least in one way, you can change a man.
Actually, I didn’t change him. I just opened up his world through a new venue. In turn, he has opened my world to a few new hobbies. Now I get to enjoy beautiful tropical fish in my home and even catch a few NASCAR races now and then on a Sunday afternoon. Although, bow hunting will just have to stay his own. That’s okay. I might make that my time to re-read the crisp new copy of The Count that my sweetie gave me. Perhaps the love of a book—and a man—can conquer all.
— Ellen Lamping
Ellen Lamping earned a BA in history from UW-Milwaukee and then settled in southeastern Wisconsin. She enjoys writing human-interest articles and children’s fiction while home with three young children, two cats, and one wonderful husband.