Waiting for the Sun

Let's say you're an average, run-of-the-mill guy. You've got some wit. You're not ugly. You make the median income. You're having a nice time at your local watering hole, chatting with friends, perhaps arguing vigorously over various events of the day. A regular procession of women walk by, some of them ignoring you, some stopping by for a word, some passing by with a quick glance. Yet, none grab hold of you, shake you to your core.

In the back of your mind, you know she will come. The shining light, the burst of energy, the MOMENT. Impatience batters you--an ever-increasing wail in your ear--to the point where you'd rather end your suffering--settle--as opposed to going on.

Yet, you persevere. You KNOW there is something better out there for you. And finally, after what seems like an endless parade of lessers, there she is. She doesn't just show up, nothing so mundane as that. No, she appears. As if conjured from thin air. One moment, she doesn't exist. The next, she's every thought you've ever held.

That's the way I felt when I first laid eyes on my dear and patient wife. And the part about her just appearing...that's exactly how it happened.

Now, there's a point to this. Imagine that just as you are pulled into this woman's orbit, as she begins to MOVE you, another comes and takes her away.

That's kinda how I felt when, four-handed, short-stacked and patient, I catch pocket kings. And the guy I most want to target--Mr. I'll Call an All-In With Any Two Cards and Somehow Manage to Still be in the Goddamn Tournament--calls and flips aces. Puts me out on the bubble. After a long line of 83 offsuit. It was, no exaggeration, the first hand I had to play in 30. And I have to see aces.

So yes, I've reduced the greatest moment of my life--metting The Mrs.--to a poker hand metaphor. Nicholas Sparks, I am not. However, it must be pointed out that I've short-changed her here, for the purposes of my tale. She's been Pocket Aces from Day 1. And she holds up every time.

By the way, what are the odds of two players catching pocket aces in the same hand? How about when they are heads up? Because it just happened. Disappointing, to say the least, from the standpoint of a 3-1 chip underdog.