Nodding With Oksana

I first met her when I was only thirteen. I was in the popcorn shop carrying a tube of glue when she galumphed in. She was wearing an amber toga, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her toenail, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the restaurant, I learned that her name was Oksana, and that she was a barrel organ player. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a football player.

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