A Walk to Remember

I decided to walk the mile home tonight from the gym rather than take the subway so I could enjoy the slightly warmer weather. It was nearing 9 PM, and I was looking and feeling tired from a long day and work out. I was just a few blocks from the apartment - on 3rd Avenue around 53rd or 54th Street - and catching up with Ansley on the phone, when my gaze landed on a guy with blond hair walking toward me in a group of three other dark-haired guys. I don't know why I paid any more attention to them than I did to any of the other people I had passed by during the last 30 blocks, but my eyes locked on the unassuming blond and I did an about face as I whispered into the phone, "Oh my gosh, I think that's Ryan Gosling."

"Whhaaat??" Ansley yelped.

"R-yan Gos-ling," I said again through clinched teeth and barely moving lips.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yes!" I hissed. "Well, I'm walking behind him so I can't totally see his face," keeping my voice at a low mumble. "He's just walking like a regular person, but I swear, it looks just like him. Keep talking to me, and I'll try to see his face."

For the next block or two I kept pace with him. Sometimes walking beside him, sometimes walking in front, and sometimes walking behind - stepping my foot into the exact spot his had just left. I hung up with Ansley but kept the phone to my ear and the now one-sided conversation rolling as I discreetly switched the phone to camera mode. As we waited at a corner for the light to change, he turned away from the road to look back at his friends and, by default, me standing right with them. As they chatted, I kept animated with my phone "conversation" - I can't decide what to wear - what are you going to wear? was the best I could think of to say while I kept my eyes locked on who I was now sure was Ryan Gosling. I angled my phone in his direction while keeping it to my ear so I could snap a picture without him knowing.

I continued following for a few more blocks - stealing a few pictures from a sneaky sideways back angle - until they crossed over 3rd Avenue. I didn't want to be obvious or anything and follow them across the street...but just as we parted, I heard one of the guys say, "Hey Ryan, see that building? That's where-" Hearing his name was all the confirmation I needed, and also all the ammunition I needed, to wait a few seconds and cross the street with them.

I'll stop the story there because we all know I usually go a little too far with celebrity encounters, and I don't want to repeat my embarrassment for all to enjoy.

Although Ryan is known for his role as Noah Calhoun in The Notebook, a movie based on Nicholas Sparks's bestseller by the same name, my Wednesday evening stroll with him actually gave me the title of my favorite Nicholas Sparks book - A Walk to Remember.