Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCXLIV

She was a beautiful lady. As a matter of fact, she still is. With some of my friends, I can still remember the day we met, especially if there was some type of unusual circumstance associated with that meeting, and others I don't recall at all. With her, that circumstance was there, so I remember it. We ended up with adjoining booths at a trade show and on that first morning of the show, we had introduced ourselves and then each of us went back to work. She then received a call from her husband and walked out of the area for the conversation. She came back just minutes later with tears in her eyes, and said to me, "I have to go home." There had been a tragedy back home, and a family member was not expected to survive the next twenty-four hours. I still recall how my heart went out to her as she packed up and started out on that long seven hour trip back home. In the three or four years after that first meeting, I would see her at various trade shows about four times a year, and although we never became close friends, I guess you could say we were friendly acquaintances, never having more than five to ten minute conversations at a time. Then our paths went different directions, and I never saw her again....until yesterday. As in the old days, it was at a trade show. I was sitting in my booth when she walked by. I looked up, and we recognized each other at the same time. She stopped for a chat, and we had our normal five minute conversation before she moved on. So, what's the big deal? Why is this worth talking about? Well, it has to do with what was going on in my mind during our brief dialogue. I hope it wasn't apparent that I was somewhat distracted while we were talking, but I definitely was. It was light conversation, mainly about business, but when we had been chatting about a minute, the thought occurred to me that if I had just been meeting her for the first time, I would view her as an older woman. My next thought was that if we hadn't gone a few years without seeing each other, I wouldn't have noticed how much she had aged. I have no doubt whatsoever that she had the same type thoughts about me, but I don't notice it so much on myself, because I look in the mirror every day and gradual changes are not as noticeable. The thing that gets my attention the most is when I look at a picture of myself from about ten years ago and see how much younger I looked back then, but it's easier to accept anything as long as it's brought about on a gradual basis. I'm not gonna mention my friend's name for obvious reasons, but I have to wonder if those changes in her that I saw are as obvious to her as they were to me. Now, please refer back to the first two sentences of this article. I always viewed her as a very attractive lady, but here we are years later and I still do. That may have something to do with the fact that as my body has gradually aged over the years, my tastes have too. One of the main things about my wife that attracted me to her when we first met forty-two years ago was her beauty, but I've seen her most every day since then. I feel certain that she has aged over the years just like I have, but if she has, I haven't noticed. Preston