Shortly after the birth of my first child, my oldest daughter, my young wife and I entered into a photographic plan to have pictures taken twice a year of our daughter as she grew up. I believe it was called "Family Record Plan". A free photo album and discounted photography came with the plan for ten years. The closest photographer we could find associated with the plan, as we lived in Waukesha Wisconsin at the time, was Breitlow in Wauwatosa Wisconsin on Harwood Ave. So it was that in February or March of 1971 I had occasion to be driving through Wauwatosa on my way to pick up proofs of recent photographs of my oldest daughter. I worked second shift as a transformer assembler at the old R.T.E. plant in Waukesha at the time, so my errand running was always accomplished in the daytime.

I had a brand new car at the time, in fact the only car I ever ordered from the factory. All my other cars were purchased used, or bought new off the lot. It was a special order color, a 1965 color called "misty turquiose", though the car was a 1970 SS Nova. It had every available option of aluminum and chrome bright trim offered from the factory at that time. I had replaced the factory rally wheels with Cragar five spoked "Mag" wheels with blue Chevrolet bow tie center caps, and new Goodyear Polyglass wide oval tires 60 series. I had the car pinstriped in black with chrome hood-pins installed. The suspension was lifted in the back with coil over shocks to accomodate the biggest tire I could fit in the wheel well. I was used to the car being noticed and enjoyed it. It was after all the muscle car era, and I was young and dumb.

As I rumbled my way through the streets of Wauwatosa, while stopped at a light I noticed two dark haired schoolgirls crossing the street on the other side of the street I was on. I caught them looking at the car, so I gunned the motor a little at the light. I was smoking a cigarette, and had the window rolled down and the radio on. As I pulled out of the light and passed the girls, I looked directly at them. The girl closest to me turned to look at me, and our eyes locked together in a way that felt almost timeless. We stared at each other, and intently studied each other's faces until I rolled by. After I passed, I looked in the mirror and saw the girl turn to the other girl and say something close to her ear, almost leaning her head on her shoulder, which caused the other girl to react with a little handclasp and a giggle. I went about my errand, but the girl's face stuck in my mind for weeks, and I even awakened one morning, months later, dreaming of her; startled by it with a splitting headache from trying to remember who she was. After Zaz and I had been together as adults for a while I saw the picture of her at sixteen, and realized that the girl that day had been my Zaz.