Exceptional Buying a piece of Artwork Finding Andy Warhol by Terry Broxson True Story Contest contest entry

I met Kirby in 1980. We became friends and later business partners. I was ten years older than Kirby and had been married to Zoe for six years. Kirby would later meet and marry Jodi. They would have dogs, labs. Zoe and I would have cats, no kids. I was "Cat daddy" for over forty years. Kirby and I would often have lunch together and sometimes walk through an antique mall looking for bargains. During one of these walks, we saw an original Andy Warhol watercolor of two blue cats with red hearts. We both like to buy art, but a Warhol would be a step up. We admired the work and asked a few questions about it from the mall manager and went back to our office. Kirby left to play golf. I returned to the mall and asked a few more questions. I requested to talk to the owner (it was on consignment). I negotiated an acceptable price and took it home to surprise Zoe. Surprised and delighted, she hung it in a central spot for all to admire. The following Monday, Kirby came into my office and said, "You are not going to believe this. I took Jodi to that antique mall on Saturday. I wanted to show her the Andy Warhol we saw. But I could not find it. I asked the guy working at the mall, "What happened to the blue cat artwork by Andy Warhol?" He said, "My manager told me that a couple of gay guys came on Friday and looked at it. The older guy came back later and bought it to surprise his young lover!" Kirby said, "Can you believe that?" I replied, "Kirby, you are going to be interested to know that we are the gay guys, and you are the young lover, surprise!" Recognized Author Notes I think the story underscores how a person's preconceived prejudices can affect people. In this case two guys admiring an Andy Warhol artwork must be gay. We were not, the prejudice was harmless. But would it have mattered if we were gay?

© Copyright 2024. Terry Broxson All rights reserved. Terry Broxson has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.