2004-03-01 
 

the message was clear

Let me tell you a secret.

Nine years ago I saw San Francisco for the first time. I felt as if I'd walked into a movie set of my life. (Other than a special weekend back in college with M, this feeling had been a rare one for me.) I fell instantly in love with the palm trees along Dolores. Like so much of the city, they weren't natives yet somehow I couldn't imagine them calling any place else home. The remainder of that week only served to deepen my appreciation...but this isn't a song to the city. It's about looking into someone's eyes and seeing your soul.

Two days before I was to head back east, I spent the day wandering around by myself, trying to take in enough of the city to last me through to the day when I could come back to stay. Towards the end of my walk, I found myself at Castro and 19th street and saw a young man waiting to cross on the other side. We stared at each other from across the street, and I got an odd feeling that I ought to talk to him. At the time I had yet to fully conquer my shyness without the aid of alcohol or serious self prep, so we smiled as we passed by and even looked back once or twice, yet I walked on. He had dark hair, a slight build and wore a little smile on his face that I'll never forget. The smile and accompanying spark in his eyes matched those that I knew my soulmate would someday own. About half a block later, I cursed myself for not being bold and turned around to find him no longer there. But I was always sure someplace deep inside that we'd meet again.

G smiles that way.

* posted by me at 9:57 PM

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