Sarah Anne I Am

He was sitting outside Starbucks when my husband dropped me off there on his way to work. I asked him if he’d like a coffee. Someone had already given him a breakfast sandwich, I noticed. He said yes, with cream and sugar. I came back a few minutes later with his coffee and my tea, and asked if I could sit with him. He said yes, again, and so I sat. We ate our sandwiches and sipped our drinks in our hands, warm defenses against the cold morning. We talked for about a half an hour. Sometimes we just sat, quiet, watching the wind. Or at least I was watching the wind, he may have just been watching the pavement and waiting to see if I would catch his many hints at wanting me to give him $5.96 for chewing tobacco. I pretended not to notice. He told me about his work- with horses, for the past 54 years- and a little about him growing up. I assume he is homeless, though he never said so right out, and I never asked. Several times it seemed he was waiting for me to get bored and leave, or be

…I spent five minutes trying to figure out if  A) Tyra Banks is a real name, B) Tyra Banks is a woman’s name, and  C) Tyra Banks is the name I was trying to say, or if it was just coming out of my mouth for no reason. …I almost cried- not because anything was wrong- but just because I was tired. …I went to post a blog and this was all I could think of.