Shaking With Nate

I first met him when I was only sixty-seven. I was in the pastry shop carrying an orange when he tiptoed in. He was wearing a beige black armband, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his heart, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the deli, I learned that his name was Nate, and that he was a rabbi. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as an undertaker.

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