Years ago, when Husband and I were dating, we took a trip to Aspen with our ski club. We were having drinks at a bar and listening to some live music when Husband said, “That singer looks so familiar. He looks just like this guy who used to play at a bar in Brooklyn we used to go to all the time.”

At the break, Husband approached the singer and asked, “Are you…?” He was. They reminisced about the old ‘hood for a while.

This week, Husband is at a conference in San Francisco. Last night he was having drinks at a bar and listening to some live music with his colleagues when he thought to himself, “That singer looks so familiar.”

You guessed it…same person. But — wait for it! — he was no longer a he. The guy had had a sex change.

So my husband, the man who

  • couldn’t pick one of my friends out of a line-up
  • can never remember which of his nephews is his godson
  • doesn’t recognize the neighbors unless they’re accompanied by a dog
  • continually embarrasses himself at work functions by failing to remember former colleagues, and is probably this very moment smiling brightly and saying, “Hey! Nice to see you, you!” to an old co-worker

not only recognized a man he’s seen only twice in twenty years, but did so in spite of the fact that he’s now a woman.