I always enjoy reading the Memories section on my Facebook page each day. Often they remind me of things I had forgotten about. Like this photo posted to me a year ago today by my stepson Mark. It's message: "I thought of you this morning when I flew into Dublin for my connecting flight back to New York!
And this one posted to me the same day by his partner Juliet - "What a beautiful building you have!" I would never have known about this gorgeous apartment building in Brooklyn, NY named Ramona if she hadn't sent me the photo. I'm really looking forward to seeing Mark & Juliet when they visit us this fall.
Now on to Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2023:
"Meet-cute is a term that refers to a cute, charming, or amusing first encounter between romantic partners. A meet-cute can be such an encounter as shown in a movie or television show or one that happens in real life."
I was certain that this term was one introduced in the 21st century. It sounds like one of the new idioms that pop up regularly in modern usage. Surprise! It dates back to 1952 when a New York Times Book Review used it in reference to an unexpected rendezvous: "This may well be, in magazine parlance, the neatest meet-cute of the week -- the story of a ghost writer who falls in love with a ghost."
Not only was I certain the term was comparatively new, I was also certain that I had blogged about my own meet-cute with Bud, but I can't locate it in my posts.
The short version of a story I have shared many times is this: On a frigid January afternoon in 1981, I saw a good-looking guy running along the highway. I registered two other impressions in the quick glimpse of him as I passed: ice in his beard and a fine physique. I was as impressed by his commitment to exercise as I was by his physicality.
It took until April to find out who he was, if he was single and how I could meet him. Once I realized the guy working at one of the service stations in town was the same one I had seen out running, the rest was easy - well, sort of. My cousin worked at the same Texaco station so the next time I stopped for gas I asked him who the cute guy with the beard was. He passed my question and interest on to the fellow in question and the next time I pulled across the station drive, Bud came out to wait on me. He told me later that he had to inform another employee that started out to pump my gas, "this one's mine".
It took a few flirtatious episodes before a first date, but I would say his walk across the drive from the station to my vehicle was our own meet-cute. 💘
(The photo of Bud at a vintage Phillips 66 was one I took years later on a weekend trip to Missouri.)
No comments:
Post a Comment