As we boarded the 255 to Seattle from the Kirkland Transit Center one chilly November morning, I had a feeling this was going to be a good day.
She took her usual spot in the front and sat in the first row of seats. She had the aisle seat on the left hand side. Lucky me, the aisle seat on the right hand side of the first row was also free.
How to start a conversation? What's going to be my 'in'? How in the world can I make the initial contact? Aha! As luck (fate?) would have it, she dropped her pen as she was marking certain sections on the article she was reading. The pen conveniently rolled to my feet. I picked it up and handed it back to her.
"Thank you", she says while her brown eyes locked contact directly with mine. Thus began what I had hoped to be the beginning of something special....
Approximately 4 months later...
On 30 March 2011, I believe I have said what might possibly be the last words I'll ever say to her. Waiting at University Station in the bus tunnel, the 255 back to Kirkland was already a few minutes late. It had eventually arrived. As we got up from the bench and made our way towards the line, she and I stopped at the same spot about 5 feet away from the bus.
"Go ahead", I said with an open smile. She nodded in acknowledgement and she boarded the bus. She sat in her usual seat in the first row and I made my way to the back. With those two words, just as quietly and calmly as it began, that is how this story ends.
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