Freaking Out With Barb

I first met her when I was only thirty-one. I was in the pet shop carrying an ingot of plutonium when she barrelled in. She was wearing a chartreuse bonnet, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her skull, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the ingot of plutonium down when she barrelled beside me. I guess she startled me, and I clumsily dropped the ingot of plutonium right by her feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to freak out.

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the barbershop for a mint julep. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the barbershop, I learned that her name was Barb, and that she was a rodeo cowboy. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a school principal.

I guess it was love at first freak out. Some might say we had microscopes in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. She was two years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still freaking out for each other.