I've Just Seen a Face

There is a scene in The Godfather, when Michael Corleone, exiled in Sicily, where he and his two body guards walk along a country road.  Suddenly, Michael stops dead in his tracks when he sees a young woman approach.  His two bodyguards, on seeing the expression on his face, laugh.

“You got hit with the thunderbolt, eh?” the one bodyguard asks Michael.  “You can’t hide the thunderbolt. When it hits you, everybody can see it...some men pray for the thunderbolt. You’re a lucky fellow.”

That’s me, been waiting for the thunderbolt my entire life.  Unfortunately, romance-wise, there’s not a cloud in the sky.

As always, I blame movies.  Too often a character is struck numb when they first lay eyes on the love of their life.  Of course, movies have under two hours to tell the history of a love affair.  Mine is going over sixty years, and that moment is still not in my script.

I can tell you when it all started, though, the exact moment.  I was in high school, coming out of the pharmacy that was next to the ‘A & P’.  Wasn’t looking where I was going and bump into someone.  I looked down, she looked up.  Long black hair, brown eyes, olive skin, and she wore a powder blue ‘Boston College’ t-shirt.  I apologized, and we moved in different directions, and since then, that face has not been far from my memory (oh, here she is again – hello there).

You may ask, ‘did any of these love-at-first-sight go beyond that?’ – Well, yes and no.

After my divorce, I was sitting in a sports bar when I noticed a woman, in the parking lot, walk toward the entrance.  It was like her face just jumped out at me.  She and a friend grabbed a table behind me.  Then I did something I never did before, or after, this one time.

This was when you could still smoke in bars, and for some reason my face attracted smoke like I was drinking in a London fog.  I walked over to their table, asked if I could join them, since the smoke at the bar was killing me.  Spent the rest of the day and night drinking and watching football.  We did date for a few weeks, but it never went anywhere.  She still lived with her husband, who she professed to hate. 

It ended one night when I said something to her and she said, ‘Oh you sound just like [insert her husband’s name here]!’  When she compares you to the man she says she hates, there is really no place left to go. 

Never saw her again.

Sometimes, its not even the face.

Still living in Old Bridge, around eighteen years old, driving down Route 9 as a passenger in a friend’s car.  There is a woman driving in front of us, and I can see the reflection of her eyes in the rearview mirror.   Every few seconds, she would look into the mirror, and our eyes locked; they were extraordinary.  This went on for a mile or so, until my friend took his exit.  Just before her car was out of sight, she waved goodbye to me.

Broke my heart.

So why bring this up now? (I’m glad you asked)

In the grocery store the other day, I looked up and there was a very pretty woman staring at me. It literally made me jump; her face seemed familiar.  The way she kept eye contact made me think for a second that I knew her.

After I turned away, I walked over to the produce section.  A few seconds later, I looked up and there she was, standing next to me.  There is an ‘Animal House’ joke in this moment, but she’d slap my face if she didn’t get the reference.

Its at times like these I wish I could just start a conversation with a woman.  Funny thing is, I start conversations with strangers all the time.  Granted, sometimes they look at me like I’m crazy, but rarely with anyone I might be interested in.  However, when it is someone I might be interested in, nothing.  Not sure if she looked to me to start a conversation, she eventually moved on while I stood there, as quiet as the cucumbers that silently mocked me.

I am sure I put too much weight into the idea that true love only comes when thunder strikes.  But, I’m too old to change my ways now.  Besides, I probably saved some woman’s life.  If you know The Godfather, you know it didn’t turn out too well for Michael and the woman.

Boom!

Look at me, saving people’s lives…

Image used Found on Bing from linnetmoss.com https://binged.it/2D4oT7v

Image used Found on Bing from linnetmoss.com https://binged.it/2D4oT7v