My Funny Valentine

I first met Craig on February 16th 1985 - such a long time ago, literally a world away!

We met, thanks to my brother Jon. It was a Saturday lunchtime. We met in town (downtown) at a pub called "Star of the West". Its not there anymore - the city demolished it to make room for ... a parking lot! It was a really old, really dark, musty, fusty pub - probably Victorian if not older - lots of character and history!

I already knew some of my brother's friends, but there was this new guy at the end - fit ... curly, almost red-haired ... fit ... and jolly ... fit ... he was different, (he must workout?) ... I remember thinking, but nothing more.

What sticks in my mind from that first meeting was his humour (he told a really cute funny joke), his new shoes (still in the box) and his authenticity.

Here's the joke:

A baby polar bear asks his mother ''Mommy, am I 100% polar bear?'' The mother looks up in thought, and replies ''Well, your father is 100% polar bear, and I'm 100% polar bear, so I'd say yes, you're 100% polar bear.''

Not satisfied with this answer, the baby polar bear goes to his father and asks ''Daddy, am I 100% polar bear?'' The father pauses briefly, and responds ''Well, your mom's parents were both 100% polar bear, and my parents were both 100% polar bear, so yes, you're 100% polar bear.''

The father then looks at his son and says ''why do you ask?''

The son replies ''because I'm ABSOLUTELY BLOODY FREEZING!!!!''

The joke didn't woo me - but it certainly made me laugh, and remember him. I will tell the whole story sometime, but it was a long 7 month wait until we began dating properly.