Hope and Love Long-Distance Style

Everywhere.

At first, I didn't know we had a long-distance relationship going. The tongue lashing started four years ago. We just didn't get along. We worked together, he as my boss. Difficult combo. I'll call him George to protect his identity.

I left that job and gradually everything turned on its head. This new upside down world was meant just for us. Strange things began to happen. Hope was being planted.

I moved to California and George was there, same city. I moved to Florida, and he was there. I moved back to Illinois and he was there also. No mirages, just a spiritual encounter of the prophetic. George always knew when and where I would be moving to--without the help of the Internet or post office.

Now I am settling back into small town life and he is here once again. He showed up to give more hope, more love, long-distance style--at first.

We never spoke during our glimpses of each other when I saw him drive by, waving, as I was walking to work or to the grocery store. But he has always been around me. My protector, friend--now best friend (I've added him to my email).

It was not creepy back then. His intentions proved to be good--and lasting. He kept his distance, but I always knew that in a strange city a familiar face was making sure I was okay. He never intruded.

We no longer work together in the conventional sense, but we do work together for the common good. He is a person of charity and God-given abilities beyond the normal. He watches out for people like no one I've seen. I'm glad to have him on my side.

There's no flirting with us--just being ourselves. We have grown out of his persistence to protect me and make sure that I was always safe in the big cities I wandered in and out of. He became a fellow traveler with me. We journey a shared life now as two differently similar people who just can't be apart. This year our long-distances stop.

Soon I will settle with George into a married life with his three sons. He told me yesterday, "You know you are their mother now." I felt a calm come over me because it means I've been accepted into their world. A world of teenage boys who probably spit and belch just like I do--on occasion.

A quality of life is coming to me knowing that he will never leave me because he truly never did in the first place. We started out stormy, but only because of acute misunderstandings from our former dealings with people. Now the edges are smoothed over and the beginnings are here: new life, new love, new happiness.

Thanks for the hope, George. Thanks for loving this one through the long journey of distance. Your patience is our virtue.