Ep 6: Did I Do That??
Steve Urkel was famous for his nerdy clumsy ways. He has some of the most memorable catchphrases. One of Mandi's favorite catchphrases from this unique character is, "Did I do that?" In this episode, Mandi continues her love story, sharing some of the awkward "Did I do that" moments she experienced with her husband.
Transcript
Mandi: Mandi Frantz here welcoming you to my podcast - Find Your Beautiful: Life Through the Eyes of a Christian Disabled Woman.
Mandi: Mandi Frantz here welcoming you to my podcast - Find Your Beautiful: Life Through the Eyes of a Christian Disabled Woman.
[Upbeat Background Music]
Sitcoms have a way of taking situations that could happen in real life and spinning them on their head. They exaggerate and take life to a comical level. However, I think it's pretty safe to say that if we experienced even one of these types of catastrophes, we wouldn't be laughing, at least not until years later.
Life as a Christian disabled Latina woman can often play out like a sitcom to outsiders. Things that one never expects to happen, do. Today, I'm going to share more about my love story, specifically looking back at some of our, [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that?" moments.
[Mandi voices Ad (ads change and will vary)]
[Doorbell Sound Effect]
Mandi: My husband, Curtis, and I could totally be crowned the king and queen of awkward. Things started out pretty awkward. Be sure you check out last week's episode to learn more about how we got started. Now that you know how we met, and how True Love helped us connect, I'm ready to share some moments that we look back on now as part of our Beautiful journey, but they didn't feel so beautiful in the moment.
Let's start with the day we were parting ways from the camp we met at. Remember that letter Curtis gave me with his contact info? Well, I decided it was only right that he at least get my number. As the bus that was taking me home pulled out of the camp, I sent him a quick text so he could save my number. Before I go on, I should preface by saying that cell phones were still relatively new back then. My phone was still based on minutes, no such thing as an unlimited plan, except after 9pm. Who remembers those days? Anyway, I'm jumping into [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that?" number 1. As soon as I sent that 10 cent text, Curtis called my phone. My service wasn't great and my minutes were set to renew the next day, so I figured I'd let him leave a message and I'd call him back. Ok, I guess if I'm being totally honest, I wanted to make him wait a bit, sweat it out, you know? Had this been the end of it, I wouldn't be including this bit in today's episode. However, he kept calling! I don't mean 2 or 3 times. That first day, despite seeing me that morning, Curtis called me 7 times! S-E-V-E-N, 7 times! Can you say creeper?
The next day, on his eighth call, I decided to answer and tell him I wasn't interested. Of course, I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I was going to try to let him down gently. I'm not sure what happened, but somehow during that conversation, I wound up agreeing to go out with him. Just as a sidebar awkward moment, he asked me what I'd want to do on a first date. I told him I'd be happy to catch a movie and grab a bite at McDonald's. To that he said, "How about we go to a museum?" Now to my 18 year old sheltered ears, this was like an invite to travel the world first-class. I found myself a cultured man! I told him I wanted to go to the Museum of Modern Art. We set a date and I told him I'd need to ask my mother for permission.
My mother was extremely protective of me. I'm not kidding when I say that in many ways I was sheltered. Dating for me up to that point was seeing the guy I liked in school and sneaking around hallways to make out. I told my mom about Curtis and that he asked me on a real date. She said the only way I could go was if he came to our house and met her. If you haven't guessed, we are at [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that?" number 2. How the heck was I supposed to call this guy back and tell him he had to meet my mom before our first date? I waited a few days trying to figure out what to say. I finally realized that if God wanted me with Curtis, He'd make it work!
Fast forward about a week and Curtis was at my doorstep to ask my mother's permission to take me out. This is the point where I should tell you that I'm Puerto Rican, and my family in many ways holds to traditional Latino cultural norms. I was born in the U-S and spent a large portion of my early years in a rehabilitation hospital with a lot of White people. A lot of the staff at the camp we met at, including Curtis, were White. I was used to some of the cultural differences between us, but they were extremely prevalent when Curtis was at my house. I was so nervous and uncomfortable, mostly because I was afraid of what my mom would say to him. I'll go more into some cultural awkward moments in a future episode, but let's just say that despite some strong warnings, my mother gave us permission to go on that date to the museum.
The date was pretty perfect! I told Curtis at some point before we went out that I love chocolate. We had so much chocolate! All was well until we got to the chocolate ice cream. Even now, I'm thinking maybe this should have been a deal breaker. This had the potential to ruin it all. I now present, [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that?" number 3. We sat in a beautiful garden area in the museum with chocolate ice cream. Curtis took the spoon, scooped out the perfect amount of ice cream, looked at me and proceeded to make airplane sounds as he zig-zagged the spoonful towards my mouth... He totally tried to baby feed me on our first date!
I was shocked, then insulted, and lastly I pitied him. I gave him a death stare that stopped him midair and had him apologizing very quickly. We eventually laughed it off, and I shook it off to his nerves. To his credit, Curtis didn't have a lot of direct experience with people with disabilities, nevermind dating someone. All was forgiven and clearly we continued to fall in love.
To add to what ended up being a bit of an awkward first date, years later Curtis told me that he hates modern art! I thought his laughter at the museum was out of joy and appreciation, but later learned that it was more laughing at what people thought was art. He also shared with his cousin that he was so over chocolate after our date.
There are more moments like these to share so you're going to want to stay tuned. For now, I want to emphasize that some of our [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that?" moments are ones anyone could experience, especially cultural awkward moments. However, some of these moments are unique to interabled couples. I think a lot of people, especially people with disabilities, think that our relationship progressed because I somehow downplayed my limitations. This is not the case. We didn't get to where we are by ignoring disability. We worked harder than disability. We played smarter than disability. We loved stronger than disability. That is how you can Find Your Beautiful!
[Sudden Transition Sound]
Mandi: I'm calling on my friends with disabilities and people who are friends with people with disabilities. Share with me your [nasally high-pitch voice] "Did I do that" moments!
[Bling]
Mandi: This podcast is now available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify! Visit my website linked in the description to get access to all the platforms. I encourage you to download Anchor Mobile App, so you can send me up to 1 minute voice messages with your responses and questions. Your message might even get featured in an episode! If writing is more your thing, you can email me at th3mandibox@gmail.com, or find me on social media at MandiboxBeauty.
Plus, visit my website to learn how you can gain access to extras like the first love letter Curtis wrote me, sneak peeks to upcoming episodes, and much more coming soon!
[Mandi voiceover to 'Compton' music]: In the next episode, we'll still talk about awkward moments, but we will delve into some more serious situations. Next week's episode is called, "Get Out of Your Comfort Zone." ‘Til next time Beauties!
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