FRIDAY THE 13TH

How was yours? Lucky? Mine, not so much. First of all, it happened to be the 15th anniversary of my father’s passing. That weighed heavily on my mind all day. And then things started to happen. It all started at the movie theater. I took Andy to see Fantastic 4/Silver Surfer. I had made a comment about the people behind us not liking the Jackie Chan movie preview. Andy didn’t hear me so I moved my head closer to him so he could hear me. He did the same and we clunked heads. That clunk broke my super-glued glasses that I repaired the day before when I broke them jumping into the pool during a game of freeze tag. Anyway, I put the broken ‘arm’ in my pocket to be re-glued later.

Sometime later, and on panic-stricken mode, I felt for the piece of plastic, or O-Matter as Oakley calls it, and it was gone. Gone! I felt around my pockets over and over and searched the seat. Nope. Now Andy and I were underneath the seats looking in the dark for an eyeglass arm. What a scene. Luckily, I found it. It slipped out of my pocket and through the crack in the back of the seat. How it fell out, I’ll never know. I decided to hold onto it for the duration of the movie.

Movie’s over; Andy liked it. We’re good. We walk to the car, we find the car, which is always an accomplishment for me these days, and I reach into my pocket for the key. No key. Panic sets in once again. I immediately think either of two things have happened. Either I left the key in the ignition or the damn thing fell out of my pocket in the theater. I was hoping it was the latter. I looked into the car window and saw no key in the ignition. Phew, one disaster averted. So Andy and I run back (and it’s quite a long run in 109 degree weather) to the theater and explain to the guy at guest services what happens. Inside, I’m panicking but I’m trying to remain cool in front of Andy. The guy at guest services tells me to look in the theater while he checks his lost and found. Andy and I run back to the scene of the crime. We do the same search in the dark we did for the eyeglasses arm. Nothing on, near, around, or under the seats. Damn. Just about the time when the panic reached my throat, the dude shows up flashing a smile and my care key. Wow, what a relief!

On the way home, I wanted to fix my glasses. Something to get me by until I get home. I knew of a Lens Crafters store so we drove to it. We drove up to it and it looked deserted. I looked at my watch. 6:03. Hours of business? 10-6. I sorta said outloud, “What is goin’ on today,” and that’s when it hit me. Friday the 13th.

All-in-all, I thought it was a peculiar day and that I at least survived. No further blow-ups. Or so I thought. Alexander Graham Bell was quoted of saying something to the effect that, “When one door closes another door opens…” Do you believe in that? I like the concept of it, and lately, it’s been applying to me. I’ve been trying to meet people as you know. One by one, they fall by the wayside, but it seems the next one happens to come along. And so it was. After the Long Island disappointment, Atlanta came along. Circumstantially and personality-wise, the two were very similar. Met on Jdate. She contacted me. Liked my looks and personality. Divorced, child, smart, funny, attractive, professional, successful, the whole nine yards. Three enjoyable weeks, plans to meet, all that good stuff. Then she got real quiet for a few days. This is never a good sign so in the back of my mind, I’m ready for anything. Not really ready, but ready. Those of you who have been there know what I mean. So today she says we need to talk and catch up. Ding, ding, ding. The trouble in paradise alarm goes off in my head. I asked her if everything was ok and she said yes. We were supposed to talk last night. I guess I got out-ranked because we didn’t. This morning, I found out why. This was once again out of the blue, and I mean way way way out of the friggin’ blue:

Atlanta: there is something i need to share with you
plantationtodd: ok
Atlanta: please wait for me to type *close* before you say anything...so you know i'm done...
Atlanta: everything we have talked about is very real for me. i think you are an amazing person, thoughtful, kind & handsome. we have a lot in common and it's very real to me...
Atlanta: that said...
Atlanta: it makes it difficult for me to share with you that i've met someone...
Atlanta: and i care for you and respect you and need to be honest with you. i wasn't looking to meet someone else. it just happened. i'm sorry.

I’ve never really had a memorable Friday the 13th, good or bad. My only recollection of a Friday the 13th is going to a Devo concert in like 1983 or something. Well, now I have Friday, 7/13/07 to file away in the memory banks. To top it off, I have to leave Andy today. I know my mind is in the negative right now, but all this is really hot off the presses. I’m finding with my new perspective on life, that it takes me about a day to filter out all the negativity and then I’m back to normal. No more being depressed; no more retaining negative thoughts; and a positive outlook to the future. Remember, this IS the new me. And do you want to know what Mr. Bell finished saying? He actually said, “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” The new me recognizes that. And so, Mr. Bell, I await anxiously for that next door to open.