I SAW YOU
You Need a Ladder? Shopping at Walmart Sat. afternoon I noticed you reaching up to get some Sprite soda, and I asked if you needed a ladder. As fate would have it I believe we were meant to meet and get to know each other because this is the third time I've seen and briefly talked to you. The first time was last year in Liberty Lake at the grocery store and you were with your Dad around Fathers Day. I wished him a Happy Fathers day, but then I left soon after. The second time I saw you was a couple weeks ago shopping at Fred Meyer's as you were reaching up for something on the top shelf and asked you if you needed a ladder. Now the third time at Walmart in the Valley, I asked you about a ladder again. I want to actually have a conversation over coffee or go out on a date with you for a fun activity or something. Get in touch through this ad, and let's get to know each other. You are about 5 feet 2 inches wearing gray sweets and stocking cap with a black coat. Hope we see each other again!Riverside and Monroe: Me: stached guy with grey backpack. You: handsome man with a grey newsboy cap and a messenger bag that looked far too full. A few weeks ago we made eye contact from opposite sides of the crosswalk next to the library, and I caught your handsome glance twice looking back as I walked away. I wish I had the guts to turn around and say hi.
Please Respond: Wallace Idaho, July 11, 2015, Blues Festival weekend. Charlie Butts was playing at the Red Light Garage/cafe. You: long hair, long dress, slender, very pretty. Me: long curly blond hair, ivy cap, blue eyes, jeans. We danced! WOW!!!!!!! We danced like we had been dancing together for years. Your name: Deby, sax player Rathdrum area? My name: Gary. Let's dance again. unclemac@email.com
CHEERS
Cheers, My Nearly Perfect "Knight in Shining Armor!" Happy 2nd anniversary to the tall gentleman from the short lady you met in the waiting room of Perfection Tires five years ago!! I love you so much, and I love the life that we've put together. I'm so glad you asked me for the phone number...
It Was March. It Was Madness. It Was Love... I still have your love letters, your blue Priest Lake sweatshirt and the poem I wrote for you... I think of you each morning when I call the birds, and I think of French paintings, pink champagne, tanzanite rings and the streets of Paris with you. Are you the other half of the missing link in the story and film by Doug Block...? Why does the date we met, and your birthdate, and a thousand other signs and signals and reminders and memories continue to appear in my daily life, all these lonely years later...? I really miss our phone calls, I still miss you on Fridays, and I miss being in love with a Kindred Soul that I love talking to — it's the chemistry and dynamic that I compare any possible new relationship to... dear "Will," if you read this, just know I've never stopping loving you... and I'll never forget how you pulled me onto the dance floor, just after our introductions... beer, basketball and, oh baby, your blue eyes...
Health Care Workers Rock! Specifically, to Nurse Susan & Dr. Peters @ PF Family Medicine, to Dr. Hough @ Providence Urgent Care in the Valley, and to Sammy (Nurse? MA?) @ the NWSH vaccine clinic in Post Falls — THANK YOU for being awesome! Whether we've only met once recently, or we've had regular visits for years... This anxious/neurotic patient of yours appreciates you more than you know. <3
Cheers to Kyle: I didn't hear you say much at the restaurant; in fact, I didn't hear a single word you said for the hour we were sitting next to you. You are either a soft-spoken individual or the situation provided you with little talking room, or maybe both. But I want to give you my cheers, because you sat through hell for that hour. And the worst part is you were sharing a table with your dad. Cheers to you for sticking it out. I would have left very early on in that verbal beating. Cheers to you for attempting to share your understanding of the past. It honestly doesn't matter if everything that your dad said to you was the truth; he doesn't have the right to belittle you in that way. He was being an asshole, and you didn't deserve it...especially on Thanksgiving night. Maybe he was always the parent there for you growing up, and maybe he did pay for everything, and maybe your mom is the worst. But he failed to show you an ounce of respect for the young man you are now, and that he actually loves you as much as the glasses of red wine he was consuming. Finally, cheers to you for what I hope happened after we left: You opened up. You told him how small and insignificant he made you feel and how controlling he was being in conversation by saying your name 500 times and how you didn't need him to be the biggest man at that table, but the dad with the biggest heart. Then respectfully, and only because he is your dad, you told him to shut the hell up. And you asked him the question that he probably never asked you, "What are you thankful for this year?" Because you are the bigger man. Cheers to you, Kyle.
Cheers to the AVISTA Linemen: The linemen that go out in storms day and night until the power is back on. Untangling wires during high winds, rain and lightning. That's heroic. Much respect.
JEERS
Re: It's Time to Face the Facts: It saddens me to see someone suggest cutting out kindness and pleas for it here. You say that those who read the Inlander don't need to be reminded to be kind, but I think this just proves that people do. Not just reminded to be kind, but see the kindness in others. Oh I know, completely focusing on the good isn't the best, but I think more than not seeing words of encouragement and the search for love in the world isn't a bad endevour. Maybe the world will not be changed by a weekly paragraph, maybe the world might continue to be a dark place, but I quite enjoy opening this paper up and seeing the light in it as well. I've lost quite a few friends, and some of them to something I wish dearly to this day to have changed. To have been there and have them see how much I loved them. Not being able to share those words of kindness with them ever again tears me apart. So, in my own way, seeing the words of kindness and the plea for it isn't as much of a wish to change the world entirely, because i know that some words might not be enough, but to change the world around me and let those who do read this know that there is kindness out there. There is love, there are people who are willing to sit and listen ... I'm not trying to sway your mind, I clearly read your jeer here and thought about it before writing this, and I wanted you to know that while I don't agree with what you are saying entirely, I see you and understand you.
Grumpy at Yokes: To the gentleman grouchy that my son and I were parked next to you at the Latah Creek Yoke's: Yep, I heard you mutter "son of a b*tch" and noted your attitude as you loaded your groceries into your car. What I can't determine is why. We were parked well within our lines, in a small vehicle, and you were able to get into your car. Don't worry, we took care of the cart you rudely left behind, since our being parked by you was such a terrible inconvenience. ♦
