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This is another true story about a time Tall Husband and I could have met but did not.
It was a beautiful spring day, a Saturday, many years ago. I sat on my second-story sundeck in Houston, writing letters to my children who were attending school in Italy. I became aware of the smell of marijuana cigarette smoke. I looked toward the street and spotted the smoker. It was a monkey, casually taking long, slow drags from a hand-rolled joint, as he rode on the back of a large dog, holding onto the dog's scruff with his free hand. The dog seemed not to object to his rider. I rubbed my eyes and was almost convinced that I was hallucinating. I leaned over the railing, looking for an owner but found the animals to be totally unattended. The monkey and the dog turned the corner and disappeared from sight. I retrieved my sandals and ran down the stairs, toward the corner in pursuit but they were gone.
With this strange vision stuck in our heads, let's fast forward: Tall Husband and I have been married for quite some time when one day I remember the monkey and the dog. I tell Tall Husband the story and describe the small rhesus monkey and the black Lab.
Unlike others who may have thought I had invented the scene, Tall Husband responded: "I saw that dog and monkey! I saw them only once but when they returned to the home I was visiting, I saw them. It was on a weekend and I was visiting a guy named Jim who lived on Virginia Street. Did you live near there?"
Of course I did; right around the corner. Tall Husband went on to explain that the dog belonged to Jim and the joint-smoking monkey belonged to a friend of Jim's who was in prison for dealing drugs (marijuana). Jim had promised his incarcerated friend that he would take care of his pet monkey and roll joints for him.
"So, years before we met, I stood in front of a house looking for a dog with a monkey on his back and you were there?"
"It would appear so," Tall Husband answered. "I guess it just wasn't time for us to meet."
It was a beautiful spring day, a Saturday, many years ago. I sat on my second-story sundeck in Houston, writing letters to my children who were attending school in Italy. I became aware of the smell of marijuana cigarette smoke. I looked toward the street and spotted the smoker. It was a monkey, casually taking long, slow drags from a hand-rolled joint, as he rode on the back of a large dog, holding onto the dog's scruff with his free hand. The dog seemed not to object to his rider. I rubbed my eyes and was almost convinced that I was hallucinating. I leaned over the railing, looking for an owner but found the animals to be totally unattended. The monkey and the dog turned the corner and disappeared from sight. I retrieved my sandals and ran down the stairs, toward the corner in pursuit but they were gone.
With this strange vision stuck in our heads, let's fast forward: Tall Husband and I have been married for quite some time when one day I remember the monkey and the dog. I tell Tall Husband the story and describe the small rhesus monkey and the black Lab.
Unlike others who may have thought I had invented the scene, Tall Husband responded: "I saw that dog and monkey! I saw them only once but when they returned to the home I was visiting, I saw them. It was on a weekend and I was visiting a guy named Jim who lived on Virginia Street. Did you live near there?"
Of course I did; right around the corner. Tall Husband went on to explain that the dog belonged to Jim and the joint-smoking monkey belonged to a friend of Jim's who was in prison for dealing drugs (marijuana). Jim had promised his incarcerated friend that he would take care of his pet monkey and roll joints for him.
"So, years before we met, I stood in front of a house looking for a dog with a monkey on his back and you were there?"
"It would appear so," Tall Husband answered. "I guess it just wasn't time for us to meet."
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You guys really were meant to be! I shared this story with my daughter and husband, just like the last one and they really loved it!!
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