Inhaling With Beauford

I first met him when I was only forty-two. I was in the grocery store carrying an apple when he swung in. He was wearing a pink pair of Bermuda shorts, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his toenail, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the bookstore, I learned that his name was Beauford, and that he was a counselor. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a makeup artist.

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