The Only Other Home

The Only Other Home

"The only other home, I can enter without an appointment or invitation, is my parents." -- Ben Oak

Sincerely, 

Ben

The First Date

The First Date

Here is the story:

(told in point form; therefore fill in the gaps, in your mind)

Listen,

- when he was 19, she was 17,

- in Fatih, Istanbul, in the evening, when he returned to the neighbourhood from work,

- many girls in the neighbourhood would be perched infront of their windows waiting for him to come home, 

- the girls would come out side to run into him, by accident,

- he was a good looking kid, 

- however, he saw her,

- she was a beautiful young lady,

- he followed her home,

- he asked her out,

- the next night, he showed up at her front door, for the first date,

- he was wearing an old t-shirt, he was not-well-off...poor,

- she gave him a new buttoned down shirt, one of her father's,

- he wore it, they went out,

- after the date, they were walking back home late that night,

- her father sees them, from a distance,

- the father sees him wearing his brand new shirt,

- the father goes home to wait for his daughter,

- remember, this is not Canada, it is Turkia,

- it is 1966,

- the father looks in the closet, the shirt is not there,

- the father waits for her at the house,

- she comes home,

- the father asks her "who he was", 

- she says, he lives around the corner,

- the father says, "I like him, he can keep the shirt",

- the young couple,

- my mom & dad,

Sincerely.