Fangirling a Fellow Resident

 

You’re probably wondering how come I’m posting when it’s not a Wednesday or Saturday. Or maybe you’re not and you just think I’m getting forgetful or confused as to what day it is. I’m not and I didn’t. I’m throwing in an extra post this week because I have too many posts in my scheduler and they’ll get too “dated” to be relevant, say, if one about a holiday party gets published mid-January. I’ve had to discard unpublished posts before and if you knew how much I like to write, you’d understand how much it bugs me to do that. This post will be short. I promise.  

Back when we had the resident’s art show here at the continuum care complex I’ve been stalking a woman who was rumored to be a retired college professor in the arts department of a local university. Her entries into the show were definitely at a professional level, far above any of the pieces the rest of us entered. I knew where her apartment was by the pedestal outside her door with a metal bust sitting on top---one she’d entered in the show. A few times I’ve walked down her hall hoping I’d get lucky and she’d pop out the door on her way to who knows where. 

Last night I was sitting and laughing in the cafe` with three other ladies and it came out that one of the ladies was the retired art professor. Ohmygod, I totally fangirled her. “I’ve been stalking you for weeks!” I said practically bouncing in my seat. “I’ve been wanting to meet you and here you are! Right next to me!” She laughed. We were all laughing, having a totally silly conversation for over an hour before she got around to asking why I wanted to meet her and I admitted I hoped she taught drawing or painting so I could pick her brain but, she didn’t. She spent her whole career teaching sculpture, jewelry design and other 3 dimensional arts. 

When we parted she wanted to know my name and I answered, Jean.  “There are five Jeans here,” she said, “how will I know which one your are?” “I’m the fat one,” I replied. She looked at me like I was Duffy-Duck so I confirmed what I said, “Well I am.” “What is your name?” she asked again and for a minute I felt like I was in that Abbott and Costello skit “whose on first.” My old brain cells weren’t working and she had to come right out and ask what my last name is. I felt a connection with the woman or maybe it was the fact that I’d been fangirling the heck out of her that made me feel so giddy---and obviously brain farts were involved. I was in grade school again and I wanted to skip on home to tell my mom I’d made a new friend. She probably went home thinking she’d met the dumb or dense Jean. Since it took two and a half months for our paths to finally cross who knows how long it will take for that to happen again. Meeting her made my happy. Checked that goal off my list.

In other headline news from my tiny world, I am finally prescription eye drop free and I don’t have to go back to the doctor again for six months. I do have to give my left eye a test once a week and call the office if a bunch of lines on a grid start breaking up or fall off the chart, which would indicate a change in my macular pucker. I left the complex after ordering five hundred dollars worth of eye glasses---two pair---happy as a meadowlark on a sunny day. I probably should have shopped around but I wanted this whole saga behind me. It’s been over two months since the surgery and the promise of being able to see street signs sharper was just too good to put off another day. Once I get them I'll be braver about exploring the area I moved into.

So there you have it. I was bubbling over to share my fangirl stalking incident and the fact that no one got hurt in the process. Between here and the new year we have so many parties and events on the calendar round here and I signed up for all of them and knew this post would get bumped if it had to wait too long to get published.  Life is good. ©