Collapsing With Charlene

I first met her when I was only forty-eight. I was in the drug store carrying a crate when she lurched in. She was wearing a green ribbon, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her piehole, but I pretended not to notice.

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

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the grocery store for a glass of iced tea. 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 Charlene, and that she was a window washer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a teacher.

I guess it was love at first collapse. Some might say we had bouquets 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 collapsing for each other.