What Laurie Cook thought was a sweet, romantic moment proved to be, well, something else.

Not long ago, her husband of 40 years woke her up. “Calling to me to see the newly fallen snow,” she wrote.

How nice. “Laurie, it’s snowing,” she heard him say.

It’s really a warm and happy thing when couples married that long still share the joy of life’s little wonders.

She continued, “After this prompting came several times I shook the sleep from my foggy brain.”

And then she realized what he was really saying: “Laurie! You’re snoring!”

Oh. Well, these things happen.

Cook, who lives in Post Falls, regards the snoring and hearing issues as “benefits” of her age. She recently turned 58.

But before we wrap this up, it needs to be on the record that her husband has to be a good guy if her first thought was that he wanted to share with her a glimpse of nature’s quiet beauty.

Even if, this time anyway, that wasn’t exactly the message.

Slice answer: Regarding the fate of Mary Hatch in the dark vision of a world without George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“It always sort of made me chuckle until I started working at a library myself a couple of years ago,” said Julie McAleer, a library paraprofessional at Franklin Elementary in Pullman.

She said her husband and sister have enjoyed adopting Clarence the angel’s horrified tone and reciting various versions of “She’s just about to close up the library!”

Oh, no. Anything but that.

Today’s Slice question: Are you ready for Christmas? A) Define “ready.” B) No, but I have two timeouts left. C) Yes, I have plywood up over all the windows. D) Yes, I have girded my loins. E) In a spiritual sense? F) Are you asking if I have finished shopping? G) Of course not. H) Why is there free parking downtown on Dec. 25? Isn’t that akin to the city declaring that there is one official religion? I) Lights and display contest! J) I am, but our kids might require sedation before then. K) No, but I’m ready to rumble. L) When’s the deadline? M) Other.