Knowing that I love all things vintage, a friend reserved a skirt for me at a vintage clothing store. She said that it had my name written all over it and from the picture she sent, she was spot on.
So, off I went to try on my longgggg, old no-doubt, new best friend.
As I arrived, the parking in front of the store was full, so I drove to where I found a spot and hopped out of the car.
My phone rang and I answered. My colleague was calling to discuss a new business deal. I was pacing and talking, talking and pacing, all the while thinking about that longgggg skirt.
An old man winked at me and I winked back, still pacing and still talking. He was 100 years old.
When I got off the phone, he called out to me. “What’s a nice lady like you doing at a place like this?”
“Well, it isn’t everyone’s taste, that’s for sure” I replied “but for me, the older the better” I said, my mind rushing off to thoughts of the treasures inside the vintage store.
My phone rang again and I had to pace again. Damn! My vintage fix was on pause again.
The man continued to hang around while I talked. As I hung up, he said “So? What turns you on?” to which I replied “Anything long and olddddd actually”. (That long skirt was now just moments away)
When I finally made it to the vintage store door, the woman inside said “Oh, I am so glad you are inside” before getting my reserved skirt off the rack for me to try on. “There are some real perverts hanging around there” she said pointing to my car and to the sign that said Adult Sex World in flashing lights.
Grandpa’s questions jumped back into the fore of my mind. Gosh, I had just told him that I loved anything “old” and “long” and with my mind now clearer, it occurred to me that he was not asking about the vintage store or my taste in skirts at all!
I heard a commotion outside and my car alarm was going off. Every one standing around the vicinity of the car quickly disappeared, including old gramps. So, I am glad to tell you that my story had a happy ending. (Pretty much the opposite of poor, old gramps’ story, I guess)
But that’s life huh? Happy endings are never guaranteed but damn, they can so happen at the most unexpected of times.
Isn’t that a wonderful thing?
© A Heart Full of Stories, 2016
P.S.Talking about ENDINGS, aren’t you glad to see the back of 2016? I sure am!
I have suffered tremendous loss this year and it is with the heaviest of hearts that I watch the curtain come down on this show. But, I do know this honestly, loss and mourning are two dark islands that we all need to visit in this cruise around this planet. So, let’s hold each other in kindness, knowing that the just like the dark, the light islands exist too and that visiting them and enjoying their pleasures is our birth right. I know this without a doubt.
Allow me to wish you light in the year ahead. May your days be bright!
I look forward to sharing many of my stories with you in 2017, the biggest of which will be the publishing of my book, which I took a decision to postpone this year in order to observe a period of mourning.
Thank you for reading, for sharing and for telling me that your hearts are connecting. Nothing in the world makes me happier! (Well, maybe there are one or two things…but that’s a PG21 story for another day!)
Aluta continua, my friends. Please remember that:
YOU are enough
You have always been enough
You will always be enough
The end.
Lee Mayimele - Writer 