The Duke

Living in New York City makes for some strange possibilities.  You never know who or what you might see.  I was a teenager, finally old enough by my mother's standards, to explore Manhattan on my own.  I was tramping down 6th Avenue looking everywhere but where I was going when I noticed a big guy standing next to me.   This guy had to be at least a foot taller then me and he was close.  He was making me nervous.  I took a step into the street and a big hand grabs my shoulder and pulls me back just as a cab barrels past where I had stepped.  I turned around to thank him and found myself staring into the face of John Wayne.  He smiled at me and gave me a wink and walked off.  I stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot for what felt Like ages watching him disappear down the street, head and shoulders above everyone around him.  For years afterwards my brother would bring up how I was too stupid to ask for an autograph at the same time that he was accusing me of making it up.  Me, I'll remember that smile for the rest of my life.  To this day I still love a good John Wayne movie.