Ramblings of Three Friends

There are some people who can light up a room with a smile. They don't just smile with their mouths, they smile from their very soul. It is reflected in their eyes, and it lights up their face. I've realized that I don't see beauty the same way many others do.

I don't tend to go in for the movie star, conventionally-attractive-type good looks. But sometimes, when I see someone smile, it causes the butterflies to start fluttering in my stomach. It makes me look at them in a whole new light. Most recently, that happened to me when I was watching an episode the television series "The O.C." with my son. One of the main characters, played by Ben McKenzie, is usually sullen and serious. I can't even remember what caused him to smile, but WHAM! It hit me how good looking he really was.

BC (before Clay), I was a figure skating freak. It all started one day in 1993, when my mom called me on the phone, and told me to turn on the television. She was watching her hero, Kurt Browning, in a competition. I turned it on, but there was this other guy, dressed in leather, who caught my eye immediately. He just had such charisma and intensity about him. He had his own style; he didn't skate like everyone else. And yet, he could skate like nobody's business. And his smile, when he finished his program, lit up the arena.

That was the first time I ever saw Elvis Stojko, who went on to win two Olympic silver medals, and four World champtionship titles.