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They met
exactly seven years ago
today
Nancy Nguyen owned
three nail salons
Clarence Robinson
was a high school
English teacher
They met in an elevator
at a retirement home
He recognized her
from a birthday celebration
the day before
"Belated Birthday Greetings,
young lady,"
he said
"Thank you, sir.
My name is Nancy"
"My name is Clarence.
You have the same birthday
"That's a funny coincidence."
"Why is it funny?"
"Last night I watched
with Robert Redford
and Vietnamese subtitles"
***
Sorona Beach Gardens
was an "up-scale" retirement home
but not immune to
insect infestation
In the elevator,
both Nancy and Clarence
had something in their hands:
matching cans of RAID
With big smiles,
they held up their cans
and tapped them together,
as if they were beer mugs
Nancy invited Clarence
to her apartment
where they compared
mosquito bites
They became lovers
That was seven years ago
Yesterday,
they were married
in the recreation hall at
Sonora Beach Gardens
The groom was 71 years old
and the bride
was also celebrating
her 68th birthday
Wardrobe requirement
for wedding guests had everyone
dressed up like characters
from The Great Gatsby
The dessert tray
included cookies
shaped like
miniature cans of RAID
created by
the same employee
who had eliminated
all the bug problems
of the retirement home
three years ago
A splendid time
was had by all
***
© PAUL OLIVERIO ©
The next
GoFather/Fitzgerald
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