I was woken by a phone call at about 5:30 AM on Thursday morning. It was Jami making sure I was up and getting ready. I was asleep and don’t remember the call but it didn’t matter cause I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

I timed it just perfect and arrived at the gate right as it was boarding. Terminal B. US Airways Flight 122 to Charlotte North Carolina. The flight was uneventful, I slept nearly the entire way. In Charlotte I waited in a bar and smoked. I had a connecting flight to Asheville. A twin prop plane, DE Havilland DHC-8 Series 300. Seat 3F. But in my mind I wasn’t going to Asheville, I was going to Jami.

I wasn’t nervous till it was announced over the loud speakers that in a few minutes I would be arriving at my final destination. Then my mouth got dry and I started to sweat (and thinking about how sweaty I was gonna be made me more sweaty). After collecting my bags I walked around the corner towards security. I recognized Jami standing behind the clear plastic wall immediately. In fact, I was a bit surprised by how quickly we recognized each other. We quickly left the airport and once on the steps outside the airport we paused and looked each other in the eye and I kissed her. We both blushed and smiled and freaked out.

We headed to downtown Asheville both wanting a beer to calm our nerves and to listen to the voices that we have heard so many times come out of the faces we’ve only seen in photographs. We went to one of her old haunts - “The old” French bar. We drank and talked about all things while I tried to get rid of the waves of surrealness that occasionally washed over me. Boy can she blush.