Honey Ridesum was the youngest of 4 siblings, (Maverick, Willow, and
Buck, with Honey bringing up the rear) and had lived out most of her life in
her small hometown of Beaver Falls, KS. Oldest brother Maverick was her
protector and treated her like a princess, always telling Honey she was the
prettiest girl in the room. Buck however, took every opportunity to tease
Honey mercilessly and would say the NICEST things…. such as in
reference to her birthday being on May 1st – “You were so ugly when you
were born, the doctor took one look at you and started yelling MAY DAY!!!
MAY DAY!!! Her older sister Willow was vibrant and sassy and was her
role model and someone she aspired to be when she grew up.
Honey’s childhood had its share of ups and downs. Her parents divorced
when she was just one year old, so she had no memory of her parents
being together. While her mother pretty much swore off men, her father
joined the flavor of the month club and pursued any and every single
woman that showed up on his radar. Her safe haven was the home of her
grandparents, where she spent most weekends sleeping in the same room
her mother had as a child. As Honey grew older she was friendly and
outgoing, but definitely tried to stay out of trouble – with her father being the
Police Chief of Beaver Falls, she didn’t have much freedom to do anything
but toe the line. Honey enjoyed school and always received good grades
(except for that C in Geometry!). Thru high school Honey sang in the
school choir, loved to read any book she could get her hands on, and
attended all sporting events dressed as the school mascot…. who wouldn’t
want to be dancing in a giant hairy beaver costume for all to see?!? Her
daydreams for the future included 3 career choices, becoming an
archaeologist, working for NASA, or being Julie on the Love Boat. But
alas, due to being terrified of most insects, spiders, and snakes, combined
with suffering from motion sickness so severe she could become sick just
weaving around a parking lot in search of an empty stall – all 3 career
choices did not seem to be viable options for her. As Honey progressed in
age, so did her thirst for history, travel, and adventure – even while fighting
horrible bouts of motion sickness - Dramamine was her favorite travel
friend!
After high school Honey went to a community college in a nearby town and
received a full scholarship for being the school mascot while she earned
her degree in Travel and Tourism. Upon graduation she spent a summer in
Salinas, California working at a resort in Carmel and deciding what she
wanted to do with her future. A family emergency caused her to return
home to Beaver Falls, where she decided to stay and accepted a position
with the Library/Tourism Department for Beaver Falls. It was a combination
of 2 of her favorite things…how could she resist? In her spare time, Honey
traveled as much as she could and picked up a shift now and then to help
her close family friends at The Slurping Beaver…it was always such a fun
place to be that it never felt like work! It was while she was covering a shift
at The Slurping Beaver when she met her soulmate, Maxwell Silverbonde.
Honey had dated visitors passing thru town before, but nothing compared
to this! Maxwell was the perfect package of brains, humor, looks, and
charm – he checked off all the boxes. And Honey knew without a doubt
she wanted a future with him after their very first date…and what a
memorable day that was! It forever became known as “The Unfortunate
Incident”.
Honey had woken up that morning excited for the day ahead. Maxwell
would be coming by to pick her up early in the afternoon and taking her for
a cruise in his Mustang named “Sally” before they met some friends for
dinner and a concert later that evening. Honey had felt off kilter all morning
with a slight headache – was it just excitement and butterflies in her
stomach?? Taking a couple Tylenol would relieve the headache, and she
convinced herself it was just excitement for the day ahead. Maxwell arrived
right on time and escorted her out to his beautiful crimson red Mustang
convertible – although her top was still up because the weather was a bit
chilly. The fall foliage was at its peak, and nothing sounded better than a
beautiful drive to admire Mother Nature at her finest. They had barely
made it a mile down the county highway when Honey’s stomach lurched.
“PULL OVER!!” Honey cried in horror. No..no…nooooo…..this couldn’t be
happening!! Max looked startled and slowed down, looking questioningly at
Honey. “PULL OVER!!” Honey cried again and she tried to relax and take
calming breathes hoping to calm her stomach. Max slowed down more to
take the off ramp and find a place to pull off the road…but it was too late. If
you have heard the expression “in the splash zone”, that described where
Maxwell was when Honey began projectile vomiting EVERYWHERE. It
just wouldn’t stop! As the car came to a halt (being nowhere close to the
pristine condition it had been mere moments before), Honey rushed to
open the door to get out and continued with her seemingly endless
eruption. Finally, it ceased with an aftermath of horror. Honey couldn’t
believe this happened on their first date! She began to sob as she took in
the scene, not only was she covered in vomit from neck to shoe laces, but
Sally….oh Sally!!! Front seat, back seat, front window, roof, side
windows…BACK WINDOW?!? Honey stood to the side as humiliated and
embarrassed as she had ever felt. As she stood their sobbing “I F*%$ing
threw up in Sally!!!” over and over again, Maxwell calmly went to the trunk
of his now not so pristine car and said “It’s ok, I promise, it's OK” and he
worked on wiping up what he could. Once they were sure Honey wasn’t
going to have a repeat performance, they loaded back in the car and
Maxwell cautiously drove Honey home. Maxwell waited while Honey
changed into clean clothes and made sure she was settled before he left
her to rest and get better. After a quick stop at the auto parts store for
extra cleaning supplies, Maxwell headed to the car wash for a through car
detailing before meeting their friends for dinner to give them a play by play
of the afternoon. Once Honey felt better, the first thing on her to do list was
to purchase barf bags off Amazon.
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