By Howie Cohen
I’m standing in a second-hand store in Aspen called Gracie’s. It’s where rich people bring their fancy leather jackets and name brand suits that they don’t want anymore cause they’re last year’s style or a little frayed around the collar.
When I was younger, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a place like this. Now, in my fifties, with some success under my belt and not a lot left to prove, I get a kick out of Gracie’s. It’s a chance to make a find and in some small way beat the system.
At this particular moment I’m gazing up at a painting on the wall lost in thought when, out of the corner of my eye, I feel the intense gaze of a lovely young sales clerk. I noticed her when I walked in. She’s blonde, shapely, very pretty—and maybe all of 25 years of age. At first, I pay no attention to it. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Maybe she’s looking at someone else behind me. But soon, my fantasies begin to take over. She is looking at me. She finds me attractive. Maybe even a little devastating. She can’t help it, she wants me. Yes, I’ve still got it. The aura!
I first felt the power of the aura when I was a young man making my mark in New York in the ’60s. I could walk in a room and the ladies’ heads would turn. It wasn’t that I was the most devastating guy in the room (although I was definitely cute.) It had something to do with the way I carried myself. And it most definitely had to do with my eyes. They were blue. Sapphire blue to be exact. And they twinkled. Actually sparkled and shined in a way that prompted more than an occasional “Ooh, look at you”.
Of course, being happily married for three decades and almost a grandfather now, I hardly ever think about the aura anymore. It’s a nice memory. A part of who I was then, not now…not at this age…and yet…
She’s still there
Her eyes burning a hole in me as I try to focus on the painting on the wall. And now, she begins to approach me. And I actually feel my heart start to flutter. Maybe it’s me she’s interested in, after all. I mean, this age thing is all a little overblown anyway, isn’t it? I’m still exactly who I was then, except for a few gray hairs. I’m still good looking, I still twinkle, I’ve still got it!
She’s standing right next to me now. Slowly, I turn to her and smile my most aura-filled smile. She moves her face very close to mine, looks deeply into my eyes and with great reverence says, “Wise old soul.”
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