Tonight was a beautiful, temperate evening in the city of Chicago. Dad decided to seize the moment to meet his friend, Mr. Horan, for a drink after work at the Park Grill, and he invited me along to meet them for dinner. It was an average meal at our regular haunt, although we broke with tradition by taking a seat on the crowded outdoor patio to soak up one of the waning days of summer. We were engaged in a bit of inattentive people-watching, when a commotion caught the crowd's attention. I glanced over, and grabbed Dad's arm. "Look, that's him!"
Once again, I found myself in the presence of the famous Vincent Falk.
That morning, I had glanced at my camera as it sat on the desk, fresh from yesterday's upload of Macy's photos. "Meh, maybe I'll just leave it here today," I thought, "I'm not doing anything today, and I really ought to charge the battery." But I dutifully packed it anyway, thinking, "If I don't bring it, I'll regret it." I never expected to be right, but indeed I was.
Mr. Falk came dancing and spinning down the walkway in front of the restaurant, sporting a powder blue suit, hot pink shirt and matching pocket square. I fumbled for my camera, and Dad, ever the risk-taker, asked Mr. Falk if I could take a picture before he danced away. I was half-mortified, and forgot to turn on the flash, resulting in a grainy photo, but I got my proof that I had seen him with my own eyes. I can't believe my good fortune: I've spotted him twice in one month, after going years without seeing him at all!
It must have been fate. I very nearly missed Dad's call with the invitation to come out; I could have decided to stay home and eat chicken salad, as planned; we could have sat inside, as we almost always do. A thousand things could have transpired to cause me to miss seeing Mr. Falk again. You never know what life has in store for you. In the immortal words of one of my favorite movies, Risky Business, "Sometimes, you gotta say, 'What the fuck?'" If you are open to the opportunities life presents, occasionally, the rewards can be truly surprising.
Very cool! I was even more excited since you had just recently blogged about it. Yay for you!
ReplyDelete