I first met him when I was only sixteen. I was in the art gallery carrying a match when he loped in. He was wearing a forest green cummerbund, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his stomach, but I pretended not to notice.
I was about to set the match down when he scooted beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the match right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to burble.
After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the bowling alley for a grape soda. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.
At the bowling alley, I learned that his name was Carlton, and that he was a tour guide. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a dog catcher.
I guess it was love at first burble. Some might say we had tote bags in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was ten years older than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still burbling for each other.