Clapping With Tony

I first met him when I was only fifty-one. I was in the bike shop carrying a bone when he skittered in. He was wearing a chartreuse pair of false eyelashes, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his toe, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the drug store, I learned that his name was Tony, and that he was a snake charmer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a lecturer.

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