Opposites Attract

Our first date was at the local Starbucks.  I am a bit of a coffee connoisseur and always hoped that my future wife would share my tastes for coffee.  I had heard that while in high school, she worked at Tim Hortons which gave me some hope that she would be a coffee lover.  My hope was that someday we would sit together sipping our coffees while listening to some Puccini or while having a discussion about the Victorian era. 

Courtney met me at the door of Starbucks and introduced herself in a soft, doe-like voice.  “Hi, I’m Courtney.”  We headed to the counter to order and Courtney suggested I order first since she wasn’t sure what she was going to get.

“I’ll have a tall bold coffee, please.” I said.  I looked at Courtney hoping that she would say something like “I’ll have the same” or “add a couple of espresso shots to mine please”.  Instead she ordered a ‘strawberry-mango-passion fruit-watermelon-blackberry-cumquat-kiwi-tazo-tea.’

The barista prepared our beverages and slid them over the counter.  My coffee smelled rich and deep and the colour was a beautiful ebony.  Courtney’s tea was passed to her and I cringed.  The colour was fluorescent pink and reminded me of Mattel.  It smelled like a scented candle and no doubt could double as potpourri as well. 

It quickly became evident over the next couple of weeks that Courtney was not the quiet, intellectual, NPR listening, school-loving, book-reading girl that I thought she was.  This was driven home to me on a beautiful summer evening.  She said she was going to meet me at my apartment so I waited outside for her arrival.  While I was waiting, I heard a noise coming from down the road.  I strained to hear what the sound was.  It sounded like an ice cream truck but ice cream trucks did not venture out into the country.  I listened again and then heard the distinct lyrics of Willoughby Wallaby Woo.  I could also recognize Raffi’s voice accompanied by a girl’s voice that sounded suspiciously like Courtney’s.  Suddenly her green Sunfire roared into view.  She shut her beloved Sunfire off and came bounding out of the car.

Note the matching hat and shirt.  Classic.

“Guess what!  I just sold all of my books on Kijiji!” she said proudly.

I was still stunned from Willoughby Wallaby Woo and had a hard time understanding what she had just said.

“You sold your books?  Did you run out of room on your bookshelves or were they doubles?”

“Nope.  They were cluttering up my room so I got rid of them.  Perfect eh?”

We went inside and I made Courtney some kind of fruit tea, and made myself a cappuccino.  As I busied myself with the drinks, Courtney sat down on the couch.  

“What are you listening to?  It sounds so screechy!  I think my ears are bleeding.” she commented.  It was one of my favourite pieces too – Ave Verum Corpus.

I brought her tea over to her and sat down on the couch with my cappuccino.  Courtney, who had turned off the music and was now humming Down By the Bay, got up and plopped down practically on my lap.  My cappuccino went flying and splattered across the couch – the foamy richness would never be experienced or enjoyed and was lost for all time to the floral cushions.

It was at that moment that I came to two conclusions: first that we were total opposites and secondly, I was perfectly fine with that.  She was funny, pretty, and kept me guessing.  I never knew what was going to happen next with Courtney.  

Today is our two year anniversary – not a big deal for some of you veterans who are pulling up on twenty, thirty or forty years – but at the rate time flies, we’ll be there soon.  I look forward to spending the rest of my days, however long or short, with my Courtney.  God in his infinite wisdom knew that Courtney was the one for me, even though we are opposites in almost every way.  I’m very thankful for my soul-mate and friend and thankful for our opposite traits.