So many city memories keep reminding me where I've come from. The broadway and off-broadway shows! The crowds of people -- as far as the eye could see! Storefront windows. Streetside vendors and corner entertainers. Jobs! Dates! There was never a dull moment.
One day I went to the neighborhood Farmer's Market and I met Carl. In the midst of the chaos of the city, our meeting was surrounded by plants and fruits and veggies. I looked in his eyes and Life Ended As I Knew It. I knew I had to "Go There". I was very aware that this was not an ordinary meeting with an ordinary man. Our extraordinary meeting set the stage for our relationship as we started exploring more Out Of The Way Places in the city. It's amazing how many private peaceful spaces can be found tucked away in a city that never sleeps. Carl opened my eyes and mind to places I had never been. One of my favorites was in Central Park at the Bow Bridge. It was very romantic, a stark contrast to the busy impersonal world that surrounded it.
In Spring Carl wrote love poems for me. In summer he read them to me passionately beneath the big oak trees. In autumn he rented a row boat and rowed us beneath the bridge. In winter we snuggled beneath the blankets of the horse and its carriage.
I was sure Carl was the one for me. I believed he was my destiny. He told me I was "his". I had never given up control enough to allow myself to love someone like this.
I never desired to commit myself to anyone before. I always seemed to need a lot of my own space for personal reflection. When Carl came along, it changed everything. With him I wanted everything! I no longer needed or wanted my own space. Whatever space I had, I wanted him to fill it! I did not for a moment want to go back to living my life alone. I never knew a love like that before. It was a love without condition; a love without rules.
What is it about someone that makes you believe you have known him before? It was all in his eyes. I used to be very cynical about "Love At First Sight" but I have learned my lesson. It is not something to laugh at, it is something to pay attention to.
We dated 12 months. We had four seasons together. It was a year of living Outside The Box, as he would say. He had a unique perspective. I would see the trees that cast the shadows and he would see the shadows of the trees.
He always said he learned a lot from me, but most of the time he taught me about nature, about the universe and about spiritual things. He was a great believer in God. There were times I was almost jealous of his relationship with God. He was so in love with Him that it seemed he was being unfaithful to me by being so faithful to Him. I also envied his ability to put God first and everything else second, third, fourth...
It was an interesting time, I suppose for both of us. But not as interesting as things were going to be...
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Life Is The School Love Is The Lesson
RomanceAfter years of being successfully single and floundering in love, Sarah meets a man who turns her world upside down. He gives her many opportunities to question his intentions, to doubt her trust in him and to question her faith in herself. CAN he...
