I met an attentive woman at the CVS Pharmacy today, whose name is Cidney. I had a photo enlargement made, and assembled onto a “box frame,” that can be placed on a desk or table or shelf, or it can be hung on a wall. I made the enlargement of a country scene that my niece photographed, in Indiana. She and her husband are going to stay at our condo in downtown Chicago a week from now. I’m putting the photo up, alongside photos of my niece, her husband and their two young children, that my life partner MarLou had gotten enlarged, to help them feel like their at home. I was a little concerned about a spot on my enlargement, and Cidney, the CVS clerk came up and asked if it was to my liking. I pointed out the spot and she said that noticed that also. She checked the original and found it there, also. We both concluded that it was a semi-bright spot of light on the tree leaves, reflecting sunlight off the windshield of the car. As we were walking towards the exit, I introduced myself and MarLou, and asked for her name.She told us that her name is Cidney, spelled “C i d n e y.” I told her that it was a beautiful name. Cidney told us that she liked her name now, but she didn’t like it when she was in grade school. “You know, sometimes kids can be so mean.” “I know,” I said. “The kids in grade school made fun of me because I was fat. Also, I was put in school a year early, so most of the school kids in my grade were older than me. And there were often things that they knew, and I was clueless about. I felt like I was a loser.” “But in the 6th grade, I joined the park district football team, and started running and exercising and losing weight. And before seventh grade, I grew two or three inches in height. “There I was, just walking home, minding my own business, when “my tormentor” walked by and blurted out, “Fatty, fatty two by four, can’t get through the kitchen door.” Then he ran off. I ran after him. I caught up to him as he turned his head to see where I was at. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and his belt. I picked him up and threw him into a bush! That was the last time he bothered me. Tom O P.S. This was when Cidney insisted that I write the story. So I did!

Posted by Tom at 2022-10-15 02:52:26 UTC