For a few minutes today, I was the calm, level-headed woman in the English department. I've been in this department for over three years, and I am NOT the calm, level-headed woman. Diana is the calm, level-headed woman. That is how we've always done it.
Today was a different story. In fact this week has been a different story. She's clearly losing it. She can't make a sentence--a dangerous affliction for an English teacher. She can't complete a thought. She can't remember to bring things in from her car. She is spontaneously leaking happy sounds. She's glowing, giddy, and giggly. That's right; Diana is in love.
His name is Owen. I've never seen him, and she's only seen pictures, but Diana is smitten. I assume he's cute, and his gene pool leads me to believe he has an excellent personality and a wit that will keep his friends on their toes. Yes, Diana has fallen hard.
She has never met Owen, yet she loves him more than he can ever imagine and has loved him since before she knew he existed. Owen is the past and the future at once, to the extent that she is in love with his very name. Owen Benjamin. Benjamin Owen. Owen Benjamin.
For a while now there has been a level of Diana waiting to break through. Inside the calm, level-headed, well-spoken director is another Diana. Inside this woman is a grandma who will make her entrance, meet her love, and welcome Owen Benjamin into his personal version of happily ever after.
