Rolling With Ray

I first met him when I was only thirty-two. I was in the health food store carrying a cane when he tumbled in. He was wearing a mauve bathrobe, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his ankle, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the cane down when he sailed beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the cane right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to roll.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the flower shop for a Bloody Mary. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the flower shop, I learned that his name was Ray, and that he was a cartoonist. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a piano tuner.

I guess it was love at first roll. Some might say we had vases in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was nine years older than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still rolling for each other.