Laura and Frank were beyond excited to be going away together.
They'd spent years dreaming of this trip and months planning it.
They'd pored over maps and reviews of destinations and resorts and finally put together their dream trip.
They couldn't wait to be on their way.
Laura started packing a full week before their departure date and kept poking at Frank to do the same.
Frank assured her that he had a complete list in his head and would be fine.
Meanwhile Frank started planning their route to the airport.
He highlighted road maps and studied traffic reports.
No way was he going to be late getting there.
Finally it was the morning of their departure.
They were both so excited that when the alarm went off they fairly catapulted out of bed.
As soon as she'd brushed her teeth, Laura started quizzing Frank on his packing.
His easygoing responses soon gave way to a cranky, "Stop it already, Laura.
I've got what I need.
" Frank on the other hand started pushing Laura to get ready faster.
"We need to be on the road by 7, Laura.
Hurry up.
Can't you move any faster?!" Laura couldn't seem to stop herself from asking him one more time whether he'd packed enough socks.
After he growled that he had plenty, he then snapped at her for sipping her coffee too slowly.
After Frank had finished packing their luggage into the trunk, Laura went back into the house "just one more time" to get extra tissues for her carry-on, "just in case".
As she got into the car and before she could buckle her seat belt, Frank tore out of the driveway.
The drive to the airport was uneventful, which didn't keep Frank from yelling at every red light.
"Come on! Come on! We'll be late!" After every light he'd speed up to make up for lost time, causing Laura to have a serious case of white knuckles.
Laura for her part kept thinking of things she was worried he hadn't packed and kept asking him about them.
By the time they got to the gate they were barely speaking to each other.
Laura was stressed and resentful about his relentless rushing of her and about his intense driving.
Frank was irritated beyond measure by her persistent anxious nagging at him about whether they had every little thing that any traveler might ever need.
The young man sitting across from them at the gate, who'd been sitting there alone for an hour already and was eager for some conversation, asked them where they were headed and whether it was for business or pleasure.
Frank, whose jaw was still clenched, allowed Laura to answer.
"Definitely pleasure; this is our dream trip.
We've been planning it for months.
We've been dreaming of it even longer.
" At that point she looked over at Frank and burst into tears.
This was not at all the way she'd dreamed it.
The friendly guy took this as his signal to go get himself a cup of coffee.
Frank handed Laura a tissue.
"Why'd you have to be such a nag about my packing, Babe?' Laura sniffled and said, "I wanted to make sure you'd have everything you'd need so you'd have a good time.
Why'd you have to be sopushy about getting here so fast?" Frank said, "I wanted to be sure that we got here in time so that nothing would interfere with our having a good time.
" Laura and Frank looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Frank caught his breath first and said, "So, here we are, barely speaking to each other because we wanted to make sure we had a good time?" That set them both off again into paroxysms of laughter.
Laura said, when she could stop laughing, "Okay, let's see if we can do the rest of our trip less insanely.
Let's remember that the point is to enjoy ourselves and each other.
Anything that gets in the way of that is counter to our objective, no matter how 'important' it might seem at that moment.
Agreed?" Frank hugged her and said, "Agreed.
" They were back on track to have their dream trip.