Rough Shape

The little girl

asked me if I was sad.

   “Why do you ask?” I asked her back.

“Because you never smile or laugh. You seem so sad.”

    I took a moment, realized she was right, and said, “Yes, I am sad.”

“How come?” she asked, looking up at me sincerely, like only kids do. 

     “Because I lost someone I love,” I said, feeling as if I had no choice but to be honest with the six year old. 

     She hugged me. “I’m sorry,” she said. 

“I’ll be okay some day.”

      A young man with downs syndrome, who I have known for over ten years, told me he was  ‘The Love Doctor’. (The dude has had a new girlfriend every month since he was 14.)

     He asked me if I had a lady. 

  I said, “I did. But not anymore.”

      “When did you break up?” he asked, in his broken english most people can’t understand. 

“Uhhhh, technically in December, but it feels like we actually broke up a few weeks ago. I had to push her away . . .  What should I do, Mr. ‘Love Doctor’? Any advice for me?”

     He puffed up and said, “Look, Homie, a year ago I was dating Boston. Now I am engaged to Abby. You need to move on.”

     It was not the answer I was secretly hoping for. 

     “But . . . I really loved her. The problem is, now she’s with someone else.”

     “Yeah, yeah,” he said casually, waving me off, “move on, Homie. You’ll get another girlfriend.” He slapped me on the back a few times in an attempt to comfort me. 

    “Not all of us are you, Andrew. We don’t always need to be in relationships. Some of us are happy alone,” I said, way sharper than I intended. I really do care for the kid. Always have. 

     “Nahhhhh,” he said. “You need to get a new girlfriend, Homie.”

One of the young teenagers I work with asked me,

   “Hey Clint, how do you conquer a lady?”

    To which responded with, 

   “You don't ‘conquer’ a lady,

        you get blessed with one.” 

He blinked at me in confusion. 

    “If you’re lucky, you’ll understand some day,” I said to him.

 Richard asked me if I had a ride home. 

    I said, “I drive myself, Buddy.”

“Your wife doesn’t pick you up?” he asked. 

      “Don’t have one of those."

“What about your girlfriend?”

     “Don’t have one of those anymore, either."

“Oh man, you are in rough shape, my friend.”

   I sat there for a moment, before saying, “Okayyyy, enough out of you, Richard.”

A few of the people around me laughed. 

     I stared at the ground in silence. 

CH 3/8/26