upfromdysfunction.com

Dear Carrie,

Two years! Whodda thunk it?

You know how we disagree on whether our first date was August 1 of 2012 or three nights later? Well, not that it matters but…

Substantial proof exists establishing that the night at Cain Park was just not a “date”. I cite you, my love, to Robert’s Rules Of Order as authored by my friend Bob. Bobby’s edict: always kiss them on the first date! Surely you recall then how that Wednesday night … not once did I cross the neutral zone!

Ah, but why focus on that? Better to recall the linchpin of our nexus — that very next morning when I answered your text.

“Are you in?” you had asked.
“With both feet” I shot back.

—Or a week later, when from an I-80 motel en route to the east I emailed you the link to a song you had not yet heard:

       “…If only you saw what I can see,
       You’ll understand why I want you so desperately…”

Brash words after 8 days, don’t ya think (for a shy kid from Bayard).

—Or a week after that, when I returned from out east to your invitation for dinner with Leesa. (She MUST have been wondering just what I was doing there).

Brash move, I would say … (for one Carrie Jo Leimsieder).

You were beautiful even then, C.J.

I saw it in the twinkle of your Ocean Eyes and felt it in the texture of your mending heart. I sensed it in your loyalties to family and friends and saw it in your respect for mine.

I fancied your face, was charmed by your grace, but fell in love with the beauty of your spirit. You were South Euclid, (OK, Upper South Euclid), and I loved it.

You were real. You were genuine. You were simply the nicest person I’d ever met.

‘Must have been a month or so after we started dating. I know I told you at the time. It was a Wednesday morning and Art and I were walking through the lot at Corky’s. Standing there between cars, he could not only see my happiness but feel my joy.

“B,” he said, “You know why it’s so easy?”
I sighed, saying nothing.
“Because it’s right”, he concluded.

––And it’s BEEN right, Carrie, these two solid years.

For twenty-four months we’ve shared births, deaths, weddings, funerals, and hands…

For a hundred and two weeks we’ve laughed, cried, teased, pleased, and shared.

And through it all, one thing’s been constant: YOU.

You see, Carrie, what I saw then, I see now: YOU.

Then as now, Carrie: YOU.

Real. Genuine. A compelling twinkle of Ocean Eyes.

And, oh yeah: simply the nicest person I have ever met.

So ask me Carrie … text me again with the “Are you in?” question. Go ahead, but know the answer has changed.

“With both feet” is outdated, C.J. Has been for a while.

I’m in with all my heart, Carrie. Forever and a day.

               “…Baby you light up my world like nobody else…”

C. Falk

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 3rd, 2014 at 2:02 am and is filed under Up From Dysfunction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.