5:20 p.m. | 2002-10-05 One Of My Favorite Quotes. �To a good looking gril. [sic]� ~ Todd You can find that quote in one of my high school yearbooks. I had asked Todd if I could sign his yearbook and he then asked if he could sign mine. There are a lot of people I don�t remember from high school, even though I went to a very small school, but I will never forget Todd. Now, most of my yearbook entries say things like �Hope to see you over the summer. Fucking A! Party on!�; �I don�t really know you, but you seem nice.� (Why did people ask to sign your yearbook and then say things like that?); �I really admire you for always being yourself.�; �Great things come in small packages.�; �You�re so smart.� And, of course, there were the much-anticipated short jokes, the heartfelt comments of close girlfriends, and blatherings about my �wonderful� father. But, I do believe that only Todd commented on my looks. And, even then, I was a good looking �gril� rather than �girl�. But, I knew what he meant. See, Todd was transferred to my school in my senior year. He came from a high school in a neighboring town. Over there, he was a football hero, every girl�s dream man, and the prom king or something. But then he was in a car accident and suffered a very serious head injury which resulted in brain damage. He was transferred to my school to attend special education classes. As my father taught at my high school, I hitched a ride with him every morning which meant I got to school early. Todd was always early too. Invariably, we would both end up in the locker area, killing time until classes started. So we would chat. Due to his brain damage, he would invariably tell me the same jokes and stories over and over. Every day. I didn�t care. I would listen, comment and laugh at the punch lines, each time pretending like I hadn�t heard it all before. And, he would always show me his junior prom picture which would just pierce my heart. The jocks teased him mercilessly and the cheerleaders would bait him with flirtations. He was the butt of their jokes. But he didn�t know that. It always infuriated me because any one of them could�ve ended up in the very same spot. The audacity of the situation never failed to amaze me. To me, the jocks and the cheerleaders were the ones who suffered from brain damage. Anyway, this entry is sounding so somber and I don�t mean it to because every time I think of that quote it makes me smile. That was just pure sweetness. Todd never lost his touch with flattery, that�s for sure. your thoughts? seed flower