Another Story, of Fact and Fiction

I was sitting at the end of the bar, in a seedy tavern,
drinking a long neck, Budweiser. A bottle shape which
in my mind encourages sipping. The name of the tavern
escapes me but it was formerly, The Looking Glass, located
on 45th Ave, west of the UW campus, across I 5.
My father once owned this with his partner and I would come
here on Sunday mornings, after church. He cleaned the place,
while I sat at the bar, eating a pickled Polish Sausage and drinking
a Coke. A treat for me, at the time.
This was after WWII and the placed was usually full of discharged
servicemen who enjoyed the partying. But I digress.

As I was sitting on the stool, contemplating what my life might be,
as I soothed my physce while sucking on my bottle of Bud. A recent
event in my life had me sitting in sorrow. A tragic event which I needed
to deal with. There was music playing, when I noticed a younger lady sitting
next to me. She said, "Would you like to dance? I glanced at her, saw a lovely
face with a beautiful smile. I replied to her, "I haven't danced any many years
or a long while." I looked at her, seeing a small tear, in the corner of her eye.
She said, "I'm lonely. I lost my best friend and husband recently and the reality
is I'm trying to breakaway from this sadness I am mired in."

I realized, at that moment, I was also looking to escape from my sadness but still
trying to maintain our memories my late wife and I had shared. We talked for a while,
and agreed we would become friends and see each other, in the near future, as we moved
from this sad state of affairs. It dawned on me at that moment, that the World we live in,
has much sadness. Most of the sadness of others we were not aware of.
(to be continued)