Nodding With Ivan

I first met him when I was only forty-three. I was in the barbershop carrying a floppy disk when he flounced in. He was wearing a lime-green wizard's hat, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his chest, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the floppy disk down when he whirled beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the floppy disk right by his 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, he asked me to go to the malt shop for an old fashioned. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the malt shop, I learned that his name was Ivan, and that he was a monk. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a mechanic.

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