My Number Is Up.

As long as I don't have to do anything mathematical with numbers, I'm a fan.

My favorite number is three. No reason. Always has been.

I like having ten fingers and ten toes.

At times, I find myself silently counting tiles, stairs and parked cars. I know that sounds very Rain Man of me, but it's true.

It's just this thing I do.

I count.

When Apes and I first started dating, I counted everything.

Number of dogs she had: 2

Parents still living: 1

Siblings: 1

Masters degrees: 2

Pairs of shoes: 41

Occasions requiring her to wear high heels: 0

On a road trip to New York City, I asked for THE number.

"So, Apes...how many girls have there been?"

Silence.

"Are you blushing? Seriously?!"

"Well, I played rugby. We were state champs and popular!"

"Okay...so are you telling me I need more than ten fingers and ten toes?!"

"No! God! It's not that I've SLEPT with lots of girls. That number is fairly low. But, I mean, I've had fun with a few."

"Fun. With a few....How many is a few?"

"I don't know. Hey, want an ice cream? We can stop at Dairy Queen."

"No. I want a number. And trying to distract me with sugar makes me even more skeptical of your number."

She groaned.

"Okay, Heather. What are we talking about here?"

"I want you to start at the very beginning. With every single girl you can remember even kissing. I don't care if it was only once."

"Heather! I came out twenty years ago!"

"And we have 4 more hours until we get to New York. I have nothing but time."

April is super cute when she gets flustered.

During the course of the next several hours, I learned about April's first kiss, her first heart break, her last girlfriend and how her toes tingled when she finally got the nerve up to brush the hair away from my face and kiss me.

That part, of course, was my favorite.

"So, if I've added them up correctly...."

"You were keeping score?!" April ripped the napkin out of my hand and actually yelped when she saw the tic marks.

"Heather! Most of those were nothing but kisses!"

"I know. I'm just trying to figure out what number I am. That's all."

I counted 'em up.

I'm number 38.

It has a certain ring to it, no? And by ring, I mean platinum and diamond and sapphire.

The number 38 shows up in all kinds of places.

Recently I was in The Gap and found a t-shirt with the number 38 on the front.

Of course I bought it.

My favorite story involving the #38 took place at the Cherry Blossom Festival in downtown DC. The parade was over and we'd decided to walk through the famous Tulip Garden.

Each tulip bed is numbered and the beds go on for days and days. The colors are magnificent and the scene overwhelming.

I wanted to find bed number 38.

We wandered up and down the rows and the minute my eyes found what they were searching for, I couldn't help but grin.

Unlike all the other beds that sported tulips in full bloom, there was only ONE tulip blooming in bed #38. Just one.

Clearly a sign.

Of course we took a picture.



I'd actually forgotten about this picture until I turned on April's laptop. She'd modified it a bit and placed it on her desktop.



How can I not love her?

I will admit....

This is one time I don't mind coming in last.