Lost Love

It’s funny and not in a haha sort of way , but in a queer way . Love is strange and pops up when it’s least expected. I was visiting a college with my daughter in a city far away from our home. It was a bitter sweet trip as it was exciting for her, she was turning another chapter in her young life. She was anticipating finally meeting this boy . Carlee had been conversing with for months and they were finally going to meet face to face and she was glad she had someone to attend college with . I was grateful that she had someone she knew that would be there with her when I left her there, but it was an emotional roller coaster for me . Carlee is the youngest of three girls and the last chick to leave the nest. The first night we were there we were staying in a suite at the Marriot, Carlee had plans to have dinner with this boy and his Dad. I stayed back at the hotel and watched a movie. When Carlee return from dinner she said that Mike’s Dad , Phil was loaded and we were invited out to go crabbing the next day, his treat . I had no idea what to expect , as I had never been crabbing before. The next morning, we met Phil, Mike’s dad at the local dock and boarded a fishing boat for the days adventure. Phil was nicely dressed in a polo shirt and dress shorts. He was clean cut and my first impression of him was that he was a short stocky guy with a nice smile . We were told by the fishing guide that the best crabbing was in in a marshy area close to shore on the other side of the bay. We arrived to our fishing spot and dropped the anchor. This is when things start to get interesting! Our guide got out a rope and some chicken legs.. I was like , what..? Are you serious? Somehow I had the notion that it was more complicated that a rope and some chicken legs.. So, we tied the chicken to the rope and flung it into the water. In the back of my mind , I am envisioning a damn alligator coming up out of the weeds , mouth wide open and snatching that chicken leg. To my surprise , in no time..I had a tug on my rope and raised it to find a crab munching away on that chicken leg. One would think that they would just fall off, and save themselves, but no.. they just hang there that dark meat in their claws hanging on. We grabbed the crab and threw him into the bottom of the boat and grabbed another leg. Keep in mind that this was late August in Georgia, It was getting to be mid afternoon and it was getting rather warm out there in the water. I noticed that Phil had brought a cooler on board. I asked him,” what ya got in there? “ his reply, “ Beer.” Well, my kind of guy! He offered me one that went down too good , he offered another and I accepted. Keep in mind , I am a light weight when it comes to alcohol and drinking two in a short period of time, I was feeling pretty good. While we were catching crabs, we noticed a cow ( that is a female dolphin) and her calf were feeding near by. Occasionally , we would see their dorsal fins pop out if the water from time to time.We were lucky and got two charters in one trip. People would pay the guides to take the out for dolphin sightings, we were getting to see them for free. Since we weren’t catching very many crabs , we finished up and the guide drove the boat to a trap that he said he had to check for his boss. As it turned out , the guide had another agenda. He grabbed the cage out if the water filled with crabs and yelled, “ Watch your toes.” and littered the bottom of the boat with crabs the size of medium desert plates. One of them landed on my Sandler. My elegiac reaction was to raise my foot and the crab flew through the air and landed right in my daughters lap. I have never seen her move so fast, she almost fell overboard. Soon afterwards, we collected our catches and dumps of crabs from the boat and to our surprise our host Phil had already set it up at a local restaurant for the fruits of our labor to be cooked for us. While waiting fir our table, Phil motioned me to the bar and we had a few more beers. We got to talking and we discovered we had a lot in common. At first it was the beer .. but then I realized , this guy is fun and knew how to show a lady a good time. We were taught how to open our crabs and what to eat and what not to eat. They had these green gills that were really gross, you don’t eat them, you rip them out and eat the rest under the shell. It was a lot of work and little reward. After dinner we walked out to the beach , it was dark and there was a slight breeze that felt nice after a hit sumner day . We were looking at the night sky and all the constellations and somehow lost the kids as they wondered off and were alone for a brief encounter. He looked into my eyes , cupped my face with his hands , pulled my face to his and kissed me. I have never experienced fireworks, you know the kind in in the movies. I saw them when his lips meet mine! After that amazing kiss he wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear, “ You are beautiful.” Just then, the kids emerged and it was getting late. We parted ways and I have not seen Phil or heard from him since that night! It was the single most magical night of my life. I often wonder, what if….You hear people talk about their twin flame, the other half of their soul. I felt a connection with this person that I had not felt before or since. Phil are you out there , do you feel the same way? Mabey, some day our paths will cross again, I could only hope!