Dear Boonville: I’m a sap for umbrellas.
It began innocently enough when, as a freshman in college, I discovered a bag hanging on the door of my dorm room. It included several items including a Mizzou throw and — you guessed it — an umbrella. It was black, yellow, gray and white.
Mom had left it there before she got back on the road to Colorado. I had arrived at college a week early for Marching Mizzou practice.
I used that umbrella for years. It got me through many a rainy day as I walked to classes, exams and work.
Most importantly, though, that umbrella led me to my future wife. There was a higher power at work, of course, but that rain shield proved an important link in the chain.
Julie and I had met at church, and our dorms were close to each other, meaning that we often ate in the same dining hall. We grabbed breakfast together on many occasions, years before we began dating.
Here’s where the sap emerges.
On many of those mornings, it rained. I would bring my umbrella on my morning food run, and after Julie and I had eaten together, I would walk her outside, under the umbrella.
Call it what you will — gentlemanly, old-fashioned or plain goofy — but those memories stick with us now. Who knew at the time that we’d be sharing more than an umbrella in the years to come?
So the next time you prepare to step out into the rain, grab an umbrella — you never know when (or how) it might come in handy.
Contact news and online editor Nate Birt by calling 882-5335 or e-mailing nate@boonvilledailynews.commailto:nate@boonvilledailynews.com.
