Burbling With Franklin

I first met him when I was only forty-three. I was in the café carrying an iPad when he scooted in. He was wearing a teal sweatshirt, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his elbow, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the iPad down when he ambled beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the iPad right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to burble.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the newsstand for a cappuccino. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the newsstand, I learned that his name was Franklin, and that he was a system administrator. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a yoga instructor.

I guess it was love at first burble. Some might say we had sticks of gum in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was thirteen years older than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still burbling for each other.