Presenting an accurate picture...

It's not all gloom and doom in the Krupnik household. Caryl has been making cryptic comments lately, things like "I know something you don't know," and "you'll be very happy near the beginning of the week." I'd been good-naturely smiling and blowing it off. She says things like that fairly often, so I thought nothing of it.

I didn't even think anything of it when she was curiously invested in what I was wearing yesterday morning (I worked from home; she took the day off), and with whether or not I showered. I suited up, at one point, to go to the gym, and she cautioned against it. I remembered briefly her "I know something you don't know"s for the last couple of weeks, and thought there might be a connection. 'Wow, she is taking this pretty far,' I thought.

In a spirit of compromise, I asked her if I could at least go the gym to re-up my membership, but not workout, at least not until later. She cocked her head to one side and pondered this for about 10 seconds. She made the allowance, and I left the apartment with my university ID and a check for the correct amount in hand.

I could see ahead of me in the distance, a young woman dressed in a summery skirt. She reminded me of someone I knew. I thought it was a remarkable resemblance, really. Her walk was just like Catherine's (Catchka), I mused, then dismissed the thought. As I got closer to this person, I saw her smile. It was Catherine, who lives in Boston, headed right toward me.

We collapsed into laughter and hugs, and I was so thrilled to see her that I nearly cried!

She walked with me to reup my gym membership, then I took her back to the apartment to meet the dog (who is fickle, at best, in her acceptance of strangers) who loved her! Once back inside, I changed clothes and the three of us headed to Hampden for a Mexican lunch at Holy Frijoles. For a long time, we were the only ones there... We sat near the window, people watching, and eating our taco salads. She planned the trip about two months ago, and has been keeping it from me since. In town for a week, with a very full docket of social outings, she earmarked yesterday to lunch with moi.

On the way back to my place, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up ice cream and cones.
Catherine left at about 2:00 p.m. She was like this brilliant shooting star. I had to convince myself that I'd actually seen her...that she had really been there....