Blast From the Past (or Pachinko Machines Rock!)

I've always believed that if I'm smiling during a run, it's an easy run. That being said, I did a four mile easy run this morning, moving move from a 10 minute to a 9 minute pace. It's been a more than a year since running felt good, so I couldn't help but smile.

Also of note: I was heading to work on the train with my sweetie, we'd been talking about our upcoming day and a bit about this weekend's Seattle trip, then I kissed him goodbye and he left the train. As he was leaving, I heard another person saying goodbye to me as well (using the name my family uses for me, not my commonly used name). The sound of that struck me as odd, and so I turned my head to look around just in time to see the person exiting the train who'd made the comment was my high school boyfriend of two years.

This is the guy who, while we were in accounting class, had written me a note asking me to the homecoming dance. Then he threw it at my head as he walked past my desk on the way to the pencil sharpener. And yet, I still said yes. As I recall, he'd left it to the last minute to ask me, the dance was that weekend. His (very sweet and wonderful) mom drove us and we had dinner at, of all places, Plush Pippin (yes, the pie place). And it was on this first date that we realized that we knew each other as little kids, as his mother recognized my last name. You see, my parents and his parents belonged to the same a social club back in the mid-70's. It instantly dawned on me that this was the kid with the pachinko machine! He was taken by surprise that I would even remember that. But c'mon, pachinko machines are the most fascinating toy ever invented.

Once again I digress.

So here it was that he'd been standing within an arm's length the whole time, within easy eavesdropping distance, and didn't say hi or anything. But as he left the train, he definitely wanted me to see him because he was walking along the street and looking right at me as the train was pulling away from the platform. He has a full beard now and he's pudgier, but the eyes haven't changed one bit. I don't know what he was thinking, but for me it was equal parts fascinating and creepy.