Screeching With Mindy

I first met her when I was only forty-seven. I was in the jewelry store carrying a fork when she lumbered in. She was wearing a striped coat, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her chin, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the shoe store, I learned that her name was Mindy, and that she was a radio announcer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a nurse.

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