I once dated , fell in love actually, with a man, who spoke seven languages. All of them fluently. Except mine.He knew more three syllable, four, even five syllable English words than I did. It was what we heard that made us stumble.
We met in the drive through teller lane. Me, twirling my hair, blasting rock in roll in the five o’clock lane, and him passing out doggie treats ,receipts, and lollipops through the vacuumed canister. He was working his way through school. I was doing the nine to five. On overtime.
We went out for dinner.
Followed each other.
Me with a diapered Haley in tow. Him, with his broody eyes, listen-to-me-lips, and that accent. Every word musty, ending with a curly que. I fell hard.
On the Tuesday before Valentine’s day he called and said we would probably go out on Friday. Probably go to the Club on the River, dine and dance. I told him I probably wouldn’t be there when he arrived.
I hired a babysitter and got dressed. Turned on the outside lights. Sat in the Gray Grand Am and put the car in reverse every time I saw a pair of headlights. He was five minutes late and just caught me backing over the little rock garden at the mail box.
He was beaming and I was fuming. We rode to the River in silence, me twirling my hair, and him humming to the crackly music on the radio. His knees fidgeting. Cold I guessed. I couldn’t have cared less.
A block from the restaurant he pulled over. Pulled a thorned wild rose out from his shirt. “Jesus, could you just smile so I can give this to you?” he whispered. “It’s Valentine’s Day…..”…..
“Well, I could smile” I started to blabber, "but hell, you were only probably coming to get me, and I might have probably had plans, and I really don’t know how you probably caught me in the drive-way, because I totally wasn’t going to only probably be your Valentine!”
And suddenly we knew, " probably” was “definitely” in his world, and “if you only knew” in mine and that if we were ever going to understand each other, we couldn’t assume we did. We had to ask….
Deja Vue…..
26 comments:
-you just land it perfect every singtome time! LOVE this mini-story
the opening.. (kiss my fingers)
body - (sings)
and that close!
great read! much love, ~s.
That old assumption thing will get'cha every time... it sucks! But, what IS a girl to do? We can only go with what is familiar to us... or be like sitting ducks, while waiting on the meaning. Wize it gotta be so hard...
Love this-might be writing something similar soon.....what is it about brooding eyes and accents, huh? They just make a girl swoon.....
Asking is probably harder than hearing no.
Lol....You probably never imagined in your wildest dreams...
Lost in translation. Shit.
You know, he probably reads this blog...
xo
Gillian
(I know I probably do! and I probably love it.)
She....I think it's a mini series....And God knows, I love a good re-run! Peace~love my sweet sweet friend!
Shimmerings....funny, but once we understood that we misunderstood, we understood each other perfectly! Clink to wisdom!
Karma....Oh Lord, they get me every time! :)
suchacoolcat.....Are you having ESP into my now world? ;)
Skinny...I probably didn't and probably woke up in the morning and couldn't remember the dream, and probably won't even go there, here, again. And jsyk, I probably won't get on that bike again! :) I love you so very very much!
Blue....Ahhhhh~! The blog is in my back pocket! Probably a really really good secret! Clink!
Peace~love my friends
I'm probably feelin' it!
You probably have no idea what may be heading your way!!! ;)
Skinny....You're probably right, I'm so head strong, and foot loose, I'll probably lose my way along the way! Clink, baby!
Ah, yes. Communication is about so much more than words.
That's right Sister-love...in a world where probably's are definitely's, one could find themselves on the open roads headin' towards a place called peace & not even know it!
"we went down to the river, and into the river we'd dive, down to the river we'd ride ..."
Probably a nice memory;-)
Saintly....You are so very, very right! Sometimes we have to listen with our eyes, and hearts, and speak with our actions.....:)
SweetSLB....The blessed butterfly effect, landin' us just where we're supposed to be at just the right moment, regardless of where we thought we were goin'! Ahhh, you gotta love the ride......:)
Sean....."Take me to the river"...... I'll clink! ya when I get there!
Peace~love
Friday's are for dancin'......
In the words of Led Zepellin:
'Communication breakdown, it's always the same'
A 'definite maybe'.
Fistfull of promises in a Walmart bag.
The bag endures in the landfill,,,,,but the promises,,,the what if's ??
Tie them to kites, and enjoy them in the blue.
Clink back to ya... in fact, clink! clink! Clink!
i probably think you are one terrific writer....
You're just the best! Probably, definitely, all of the above...
"if we were ever going to understand each other, we couldn't assume we did. We had to ask..."
If only the world could learn this my friend?
Big Love to you beautiful one,
Maithri
I know a twelve syllable word...
(and I know how to use it!)
Was Valentines Day the trigger ?
Ultra....Well I see we get our wisdom, from the same bag of lyrics! Clink ya! on that one my friend! But along the way I learned three magic words, and they break it down to easy-to-understand...."Did you mean?" It's amazing how often, what we hear is not what was said.....:)
Babs....That little paragraph of wisdom could send me running to my preacher's podium again! How many times we're disappointed because of promises, because "forever" is so much shorter than we thought....instead of just riding the wave, enjoying the now for now, and looking back on the past for what it was , a good time, in spite of what it turned out to be! Whew! Bet you didn't think you'd get me going on that little tangent? :)
Shimmerings....Our own little private cocktail party! clink!
KJ....I probably miss you! :) Sorry to have been out of the loop, I'm over here runnin' a little three ring circus!
Maithri....And it was then, there, on that night, that every chasm, difference, was closed...And we built a bridge between two worlds....
and the key was
peace....
Much love, my friend
Scott.....You probably do! :)
Ibeati....There was never a trigger, we were meshing together a language of our own, a universal language, and somehow, forgot to watch for the hand signals, to listen to the actions....I heard Webster Dictonary definitions, he said what he thought I would understand. In the thousands of conversations since, we've always paused and reflected before answering, asked if we understood, before we reacted. It's amazing how often, we hear something all together different than what's being said....And how, if we're not careful, the most important moments can be lost to translation.
Peace~love my friends
Sundays are for soultime....
99% of communication is interpretation.....ILYSVMS&MYI
What a golden read!!!! Please go check out the link on my post today. I think you should consider submitting a story!
And yet another marvelously worded memory from your colourful life. Love it!
It seems that Garry Coleman speaks more wisdom than one might otherwise have thought..
Sweet SLB...Amen....and then some! Ilysvvm and Mym!
DJ....I have to apologize, I haven't been surfing, cruising, visiting, porch hopping lately...I've just posting to my own drummer, my own soul, I peeked into your childhood and knew instantly we were kindred souls with circled stories that deserved more than a glimpse, a blogger's comment....don't be surprised when I come campin' on your pages...
Orhan...Did you get that passport yet? Ahhhh, the stories we all could tell....
Ultra...Dazed and confused!
Peace~love friends,
it's worth it!
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