Memorial Weekend plus One

Memorial weekend is usually made up of beaches, beer and overly drunk college kids who are barely dressed. I’ve done that dance before. To show how serious I am about finding more than just a “summer fling”, I avoided that scene all together and went to the Vietnam veteran’s memorial wall in Washington D.C. While I do have family that served the country no one I know is on that wall. I thought “Well, if I can’t laugh at kids puking off a hotel balcony, I should at least pay my respects and observe the true meaning of this holiday.” I felt good about my decision. I felt a little grown-up and very patriotic. As I walked along the wall, running my fingers over the names, I saw an older woman, about late 30‘s, kneeled down and crying. My first thought was “It must be so hard knowing a relative of yours died defending this country, and we celebrate by getting hammered out of our minds.” My second thought was “I wonder if she’s married? She is pretty hot for he age.” DAMN YOU AUTO-MALE! If this isn’t the absolute worst time to pick up a girl, then I don’t think one exist. But, I couldn’t help myself. I mean honestly, what if I was brought here by fate to meet this woman and we’re soul mates. Well…I wasn’t actually thinking that but I was thinking about I wonder what kind of curves she has under that wispy, flower skirt. Seeing how she was crying I didn’t just want to go up to her and say “Hi, let’s go for drinks?” So I did the scummiest, dirt baggiest thing I’ve personally ever done to pick up a girl….I started to cry. Not like a hiccupping soggy cry, but just enough so she could hear me. And….It worked. Unbelievable! When she turned and looked up, I quickly scanned the wall for a name that sounded like someone who would be related to me. I pretended to wipe away tears, “Poor great uncle…umm…Fredrick, your death was not in vain.” She stood up, put her hand on my back and spoke softly in my ear “It’s ok, they died so we could enjoy our freedom.” I shook my head slowly “I know, by the way it’s nice to meet you.”
Did we hook up, yes. Was she my soul mate, I don’t know. We “hung out” all Memorial weekend. “Hung out” to the point I called in sick on Tuesday. If I’m lucky, I might call out next Monday too….