It was a gorgeous summer day, the kind you never want to end. Living in the northern Midwest, you yearn for these days because you know exactly what November through March is going to bring. I was working outdoors using some public WiFi and sitting on a park bench in the town square. Yes, I lived in a town with a town square.
I got a text message on the phone asking me some simple little nothing of a question: “what r u up to?”
At this point, I should probably admit that the best part of my day is when the phone lights up, and I see her name and a text message next to it. It’s the first thing I look for in the morning and the last thing I wait for at night. Smitten is probably the right word to describe me.
So I texted her back and told her what I was doing and where, and lo and behold, moments later, there she is. She walked up to me in a simple, but gorgeous little sundress and hat, doggy in tow, and sporting her million dollar smile. Work could wait. She brought some ice tea and she sat by me and we played with the dog for a bit, smiling and laughing and saying nothing important, but latching on to every word, every moment.
I walked her to the post office to drop a couple boxes. She had the rest of her day to go to, and I had some work stuff to finish. She looked at me and smiled. “Are you going to give me some PDA?”
I’m not sure it’s really a question when the answer is so obvious. “Of course…!”
I put one arm around her waist. I could feel her soft body through the dress. My other hand simply and instinctively rose to her face, cradling the back of her neck, my thumb gently brushing her cheek and tracing up her jawline to her ear, as I pulled her lips into mine and closed my eyes.
It was a perfect moment.
There were very few in my life up until then, but this was one of them. The kiss, combined with the smile, the energy, when she walked up to me in that beautiful dress on that beautiful day, meant that there was no past, no future. All that exists is the now, and when those moments happen, all you want is to strive to experience and enjoy the nows that occur.
That was the moment I remembered my own definition of love; it was that moment of perfection that had nothing at all to do with the concept of happily ever after, or some bastardized promise of a relationship that’s more than what should be. It was an individual moment of perfection on a Monday afternoon.
Friday she told me it was over, that there was no reason to fight it because there was nothing to fight for. We were two ships passing in the night, our lives had intersected when and how they should have, and now were inevitably moving on.
She was partially right, we were both transients, living a life between lifetimes. But she had left out an important detail. We didn't pass in the night, silently sailing on. No, we crashed head on, hard. For brief moments in existence, we were exactly what the other needed – in the moment – in time – in everything.
But our story wasn't over…. By 3000 miles…
All "Airline Love Story" posts: http://thestoriesofbradk.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Airline%20Love%20Story
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