Clattering With Jolene

I first met her when I was only fifty-nine. I was in the ad agency carrying a can of beer when she blundered in. She was wearing a beige dress, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her tooth, but I pretended not to notice.

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

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the hair salon for a dose of cod liver oil. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the hair salon, I learned that her name was Jolene, and that she was a pediatrician. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a news reporter.

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