Original URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/QdUS46tfguH060fJMqasiV7Y91mtSLhAleTZE0/
Nala's Caption
Car all clean last of the groceries in.
Background Story
She went out for groceries, which was part of the reason she went out to Duffy's in previous photos. She was just wasting some time hanging out somewhere. She made it a point to make dinner for her and her roommate Sandy as much as she could. Part of it was just be cause she loved to cook. Part of it was because cooking was very therapeutic for her. The primary reason here though, was because even though she was a roommate, and even though she was paying rent like any tenant would or should, she felt like the owed it to Sandy to cook for her. Sandy rescued her from living in an extended stay hotel, and made her feel like a free woman again. Nala had felt confined and claustrophobic for so many years before that.
The car you're looking at is a Hyundai Genesis. It was a fast, small, sporty little car. We called it the Nala-mobile (said like as word). She looked so bad ass and cute driving this car. I remember when we first began dating, I hadn't seen her in her car yet. She'd describe her car to me, and it was the worst possible description I could have gotten. From her description, I really expected her to show up in a red beaten up 1980's Honda with a taped up window and smoke coming from the exhaust.
I still remember that first time she pulled up in her car to meet me. We hadn't seen each other in person for about one or two months. I was secretly staying at the Hyatt Place in downtown West Palm Beach. She rushed over from work, about 6 blocks away. The way she'd drive in to the covered entry way, she'd be looking right to see me. So I stood on the left to surprise her. I loved surprising her. When she finally pulled in, my heart of course skipped a beat. I probably was holding my breath. I do that sometimes when I get excited, but I never notice it. I had seen about 30 cars pull in before her, hoping and wishing each was her. Then she pulled in.
She was looking around for me, and paused in front of the doorway to enter the hotel. She was expecting to see me there, because I told her that's where I'd be. I walked up to her car door. She began looking around, then noticed a person standing next to her door. It took her a couple of double takes after she realized that I wasn't a stranger trying to carjack her or something. The entire moment of her looking around, spotting me, and realizing what was happening probably took a whole two or three seconds, but it still feels slow motion today, just as it did the day when it happened in real time.
Once she realized it was me, she got so excited. Her facial expression went from one of confusion and concern, to growing a smile bigger than I've seen on another person. She opened the door but failed to take off the seat belt. She couldn't get out. She took off the seat belt, but then realized she needed to put the car in park. Yes, it moved. Then she shifted it into park and jumped out of her car like a kid getting a Christmas present for the first time in her life.
Then we kissed and hugged each other. It was more like squeezing. Her heels didn't touch the ground for what felt like several minutes, easy. I held her like I'd never held anyone before or since. This is one of my favorite memories of her. If the movie "Groundhog Day" was real, this might be one of the days I'd want to relive over and over again. I miss my Nala so much.
Simba's Post(s) That Day