In all of the years that Ilya has been in the Americas, he has never been to the zoo. The last time he went, he was 7 years old with his mother. He remembered his mom taking her time at each exhibit and spending as much time as Ilya wanted to watching the animals. Ilya’s most vivid memory of the visit is when they got to the lions. He remembered his mom telling him that she was excited to see the lions, as they were her favorite animal. Irina read the info plaque while Ilya watched two lions groom each other. Irina finished reading and turned to Ilya, “Ilyusha, they are giving each other baths because they love each other so much. The lions trust each other more when they groom and snuggle each other. But you know what else? Even though they look so sweet with their family, they are apex predators. That means that they are the scariest animal to other animals. They know not to mess with their pack or they are in for it.”
One day, Shane heard Ilya mention in passing that he hadn’t been to the zoo since childhood. On their one year wedding anniversary, Shane made plans to take Ilya to the Toronto Zoo, the biggest zoo in Canada. He packed everything needed for an overnight, plus supplies for a very hot day in July: sunscreen, mini first aid kit, healthy snacks, portable misting fans, wide brimmed hats, bug spray, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and a little cooler with water and electrolyte packs. Shane wore a practical navy blue sun blocking shirt, khaki shorts and comfy new balances, and Ilya bought an outfit for the occasion: a Maison Margiela pixel leopard button down (short sleeved, of course, to stay cool), and some terry towel hot pink Versace shorts - “they will wick away the sweat, Shane.” Ilya agreed that they needed comfy shoes for all of the walking that day, so he had ordered a pair of leopard print New Balances to finish the outfit and “match his hubby.” As they walked around the zoo, Shane had never seen Ilya so focused on absorbing every detail- he stopped at each exhibit, read every plaque and told Shane the facts about each animal. Shane honestly enjoyed Ilya enjoying the zoo more than he did the actual zoo himself. When they got to the African Savanna section, Ilya stopped at the lions. As he was reading the info board, Shane saw him start to tear up. He rushed over to him, concerned, giving him a big side hug, and kissing him on the shoulder. “Are you ok, Ilyusha?” Ilya turned to him and said, “My mother loved lions. She was sweet and strong just like them.” He went on, through tears, to tell Shane about the last time he saw a lion at the Moscow Zoo with Irina. Shane started tearing up, too, and they spent more than a moment watching the exhibit together, until a little boy ran up next to them, hanging half of his body off of the guard rail, hovering over the inset exhibit. Ilya couldn’t help himself. He quickly wiped his tears, turned to the kid, and said, “I’d be careful if I were you. Do you know that lions are apex predators? That means they love to eat little boys.”
They spent 10 hours there- arrived right at opening and stayed until the zookeepers started evening mealtimes. “This is the best anniversary I’ve ever had,” Ilya said on the drive back to the hotel as he rubbed Shane’s hand on the shifter. “Ilya, it’s the only anniversary you’ve ever had.” “No, not true. On my 3 year captain anniversary, Marley took me to Tresca and an arcade. But this blows Marley’s Italian food out of water.”
