Showing Up With Callie

I first met her when I was only twenty-two. I was in the video arcade carrying a clarinet when she tramped in. She was wearing an ivory set of football pads, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her chest, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the electronics store, I learned that her name was Callie, and that she was a matador. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a helicopter pilot.

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