Coughing With Elaine

I first met her when I was only fifteen. I was in the cigar store carrying a coffee pot when she traipsed in. She was wearing a beige wig, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her tooth, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the deli, I learned that her name was Elaine, and that she was a blogger. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a church usher.

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