Nodding With Isabel

I first met her when I was only forty-eight. I was in the souvenir shop carrying an acorn when she struggled in. She was wearing a periwinkle maxi skirt, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her thigh, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the acorn down when she climbed beside me. I guess she startled me, and I clumsily dropped the acorn 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 grocery store for a chocolate milk. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the grocery store, I learned that her name was Isabel, and that she was a law clerk. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a math teacher.

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