Afternoon at a small downtown café, an outdoor table off to the side. Right on schedule she arrives looking business casual. Greetings exchanged and beverages ordered. A legal pad, pen and digital recorder are procured from her briefcase, the latter clicked on before it hits the table. I like her already — right down to business. Her? We’ll call her Gee to keep it simple.
Gee: “So, generically common question, where did you first meet?”
CS: “Well it’s a generically common answer. I was shooting pool, looked up over the 9 ball and there she was sittin’ at the bar. Once the eight was sunk I sidled up beside her.”
“Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight. I’ve got the feeling that something ain’t right. I’m so scared in case I fall off my chair and I’m wondering how I’ll get down the stairs. Clowns to the left of me… jokers to the right here I am, stuck in the middle with you!” Lyrics recalled from — “Stuck in the Middle with You”, by the Scottish band Stealers Wheel (1973).
CS: “It was ironic timing, actually. That was decidedly my last night out on the town, “looking for love in all the wrong places” as it were. Meeting her changed that.”
Gee: “Was it love at first sight?”
CS: (laughs) “Well first sight was from behind, so it was something. Nobody crosses a bar to talk to an ugly person. But then we started talking and… love? Probably not… but there was something there.”
Gee: “So friends first, lovers later?”
CS: “Yeah… for her much later… almost 6 years.”
Gee: “So you fell first?” CS: “Yeah, pretty damned hard too. Hard enough to know that her fall, if it ever came, would be worth waiting for and when it did…”
“There’s just one more thing I have to know, if this is love why does it scare me so? It must be something only you can see, ‘Cause girl I feel it when you look at me. So tonight, I’ll ask the stars above, “How did I ever win your love? What did I do? What did I say, to turn your angel eyes my way?” Stolen lyrics from “Angel Eyes” by the Jeff Healey Band (1988).
Gee: “So, following a looong courtship of sorts, you married… how did you know she was “the one?”
CS: “You never know if someone’s your one… she just was… still is.”
Gee: “And you said that now, after 13 years of marriage, you’ve never had an argument or fight? How’d you manage that?”
CS: “You start walking before they can start and then keep walking … “
“I’ll start walking your way. You start walking mine. We’ll meet in the middle ‘neath that old Georgia pine. We’ll gain a lot of ground ‘cause we both give a little. And there ain’t no road too long when we meet in the middle. Babe, I love the way we work it out…that’s what love’s about!” Lyrics borrowed from “Meet in the Middle” by American country music band Diamond Rio (1991).
Gee: “You met in 2005, so 18 years in the background. After all this time, is the love still there? Do you still find time for it?”
CS: “The love has always been there… I reckon it always will be. As for time… life gets busy and sometimes it’s hard to find. But you have to keep trying and promise that you’ll never stop looking for it.”
“If you get there before I do… don’t give up on me. I’ll meet you when my chores are through… I don’t know how long I’ll be. But I’m not gonna let you down… darling wait and see. And between now and then… until I see you again… I’ll be lovin’ you… love, me!”- Pilfered lyrics from “Love, Me” by country music artist Collin Raye (1991).
Gee: “Well, this is enough to get me started. I might insert some older country songs for effect. Last question — 13 is, after all, the epitome of unlucky numbers…”
CS: “Luck is subjective to the context… I’m very lucky to have shared the past 13 years with her.”
INTERVIEW CONCLUDES.
Happy 13th Anniversary to my love, my life, my all, still my Lil Red for all eternity…and maybe even longer.
I welcome almost all questions, comments via FOCUS, or E-mail me at [email protected].
Hope to hear from ya until then try and stay focused! See ya.
