Wendy's lets husband surprise wife by being first customers at new Parksville, B.C., location
It’s been said "men are from Mars and women are from Venus," but in this couple’s case, Thomas is a McDonald’s man, while Ellie is a Wendy’s woman.
"What I have with McDonald’s goes very deep," Thomas smiles, recalling how his parents would always take him to the fast food restaurant as a child. "We have a lot of history together, me and Ronald [McDonald]."
Ellie, on the other hand, grew up across the street from a Wendy’s restaurant.
A young Ellie is pictured enjoying a Wendy's burger."Whenever my family would eat out, that’s where we’d eat," Ellie laughs. "That was our place!"
When Ellie and Thomas first met as teenagers, they became fast friends, despite their differences with fast food.
"It was not a deal-breaker," Thomas laughs. "[There was] too much good for that to ruin it!"
In fact, there was so much good, Ellie and Thomas eventually began dating.
While their first kiss was nothing like that old McDonald’s TV ad, showing a young couple’s first kiss inspired by French fries, Ellie says, "It was love."
That love inspired Ellie and Thomas to get married, before moving away and starting a family.
"There wasn’t a close Wendy’s," Ellie says disappointedly. "So obviously we ate a lot of McDonald’s."
And then they moved to the even smaller town of Parksville, B.C., inspiring Ellie to ask that iconic question from the Wendy’s TV ads: "Where’s the beef?"
"What?" Ellie exclaims. "There’s no Wendy’s here either?"
Similar to the feisty seniors in the classic Wendy’s commercials, Ellie would pass every new building site with hope.
"I thought, 'Oh my gosh!'" Ellie recalls. "'Maybe this is it! Maybe there’s a Wendy’s!'"
That’s when Thomas realized what Ellie was really craving was not food but an opportunity to serve up the same happy childhood memories she’d made, but now for her own family.
"I realized that was a real comfort food for her," Thomas says.
So when the restaurant chain finally announced the arrival of a local location, Thomas says he started a months-long conversation with Wendy’s management.
He arranged to surprise Ellie by making her the new restaurant’s first customer.
"It wasn’t like flowers or chocolate, but he knew me so well," Ellie smiles, showing photos of her and her family in the restaurant for the first time. "I felt very loved and paid attention to."
The Hazelman family were the first customers at the new Wendy's location in Parksville, B.C.While Ellie filled her family with meaningful memories, Thomas realized he couldn’t have been happier without a Happy Meal.
"Everybody has different love languages," Thomas says. "Everyone can show love in different ways."
And no matter the menu, you’ll find the most satisfying part of any meal is choosing to share it with the people you love.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.