COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Encarnanze is likely to take a little more time from now on to be sure his wife is with him.

        Last month, he bought gas at a Wisconsin truck stop and his wife, Christina, told him she was going to the restroom.

        When she came back, he was gone. She was stranded without identification or money, and it took two days for the couple to reunite for their daughter's wedding near Minneapolis.

        It's left John embarrassed and Christina amused.

        On May 10, the couple was taking turns driving on the 630-mile trip from Columbus. As they passed Chicago and night came, Christina got into the back of their Chevrolet Blazer to nap.

        When they got to the Truckers Inn near Madison, Wis., about 400 miles into the trip, John bought gas and Christina said she was going to the restroom.

        “I washed my hands. I came out and he was gone,” she told The Columbus Dispatch for a story Saturday.

        “I looked around. He was still gone. I started to laugh and said to myself, 'This is not happening.' I said 'He'll miss me and in 10 minutes he will come back.”'

        But after leaving the truck stop, John drove 40 miles to a rest stop, then slept for an hour. He thought his wife was curled up in the back seat.

        “I drove another 40 miles,” he said. “I pulled into a McDonald's and I looked and she wasn't there. And I thought, 'Maybe I left her at the rest stop.' So I drove back.”

        But his wife wasn't there.

        “I saw a sign saying 37 miles to the next rest stop. I went back to that one.” And again, no Christina.

        “I was worried,” John said. “I was kind of frustrated — I guess embarrassed.”

        So he drove up and down Interstate 90/94 searching. He couldn't recall his daughter's phone number. Finally, he turned the Blazer around and headed for Minneapolis.

        Meanwhile, workers at the truck stop's restaurant passed the hat and came up with $53 to help Christina buy a bus ticket to Minneapolis.

        Dane County, Wis., Sheriff's Deputy Rick Sewell, one of several law enforcement officers who helped Christina, then paid for the $60-plus ticket and told her to keep the cash for emergencies.

        Christina made it to her daughter's first, on the afternoon of May 12.

        When her husband arrived, “He didn't say anything,” Christina said. “He just came to me. He was crying.

        “He put his arms around me. He didn't say he was sorry. He didn't know I had a great time. I could see he was feeling bad.”

        On the way home, Christina and John never talked about that night.

        But during the drive back to Columbus, he kept doing something unusual — at least for him.

        “He was alert. It was like he was watching for me. He kept reaching back and touching my leg to make sure I was really there,” she said.

New grads find home is sweet
Ask A Stupid Question
KIESEWETTER: Reds radio no place for sexual ad
Fit Bits
Five tips for healthy, long-term weight loss
Group sessions with trainer can be affordable, fun
The joy of exercise
30-pound piranha outgrowing tank
Man accidentally leaves wife at truck stop
Man who started college in 1920 finally gets degree
Springdale teacher touched by 'great class'
Broadway grosses slip in 2001-2002
'Sum of All Fears' attacks 'Clones' lead
'The Goat' best play; 'Millie' best-liked in Tonys
Toots and Luciano get to soul of reggae
Get To It