Laughing With José

I first met him when I was only fifty-three. I was in the supermarket carrying an air compressor when he barrelled in. He was wearing a green tattoo, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his finger, but I pretended not to notice.

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

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the grocery store for an ice cream soda. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the grocery store, I learned that his name was José, and that he was a gravedigger. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a drunkard.

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