…No, not like that. Well, maybe a little bit like that.
Ok, fine. It was a lot like that. We had a relationship. Actually we had several relationships. This guy was my
boyfriend, my best friend, and my confidante. We grew up together from age 13 and are together today, happily married for fifteen years.
Ok, fine. It was a lot like that. We had a relationship. Actually we had several relationships. This guy was my
boyfriend, my best friend, and my confidante. We grew up together from age 13 and are together today, happily married for fifteen years.
He was out of my league….and I knew it. But there was something about him that
drew me to him. Maybe it was his bad boy image or the fact that he was several years older than me and my Mom hated him instantly, or his love of fast cars and motorcycles. Regardless of the reasons, I was the happiest girl in the world when he asked me out of a date; at least until our age difference got the best of us.
Fast forward to the present.
Needless to say, few high school romances have a fairytale ending. Ours ended up like most. Hefound someone else: someone a little more exciting, someone with a much later curfew. And I moved on, albeit painfully and bitterly: dating, educating, and prepping for an exciting career in veterinary medicine, which by the way, didn’t happen either. It wasn’t until 8 years after we broke up that we reconnected through a mutual
friend.
Facebook hadn’t been invented back then, so I couldn’t cyberstalk him to see what he’d
been up to. So, on a whim, I gave him my phone number and remember thinking that if he called, I would give him a chance, a second chance to be my friend. I missed his smile, his jokes and his sincerity.
Though I hadn’t spoken to him in almost a decade, it was like we had never been apart the first time he called.
One phone call led to another call which led to another call and an invitation to dinner and a movie. The next thing I knew, we were saying “I do,” in front of all our family and friends a year later.
The point of this story is that I know deep in my heart that if I had held on to the anger and resentment I felt when Mark and I broke up, I would never have been able to
give him, or ultimately me, a second chance at happiness. I'm not saying that there was anything magical about that chance meeting with friends or that a phone call would land me a marriage proposal, but I can't rule it out just yet. Either way, I’m grateful that I was able to put the past behind me and move on.
We see famous people getting second chances from a forgiving public and special people in their lives day after day. I mean, think about it for a minute. How many second chances did Mel Gibson get before we finally wrote him off? How about Kim Kardashian? Bill Clinton? Joe Paterno?
I would love to hear your stories, new readers, of past hurts you have been able to
overcome and offer second chances, even when people don’t deserve it? Or have you found yourself unwilling or unable to offer that second chance?
drew me to him. Maybe it was his bad boy image or the fact that he was several years older than me and my Mom hated him instantly, or his love of fast cars and motorcycles. Regardless of the reasons, I was the happiest girl in the world when he asked me out of a date; at least until our age difference got the best of us.
Fast forward to the present.
Needless to say, few high school romances have a fairytale ending. Ours ended up like most. Hefound someone else: someone a little more exciting, someone with a much later curfew. And I moved on, albeit painfully and bitterly: dating, educating, and prepping for an exciting career in veterinary medicine, which by the way, didn’t happen either. It wasn’t until 8 years after we broke up that we reconnected through a mutual
friend.
Facebook hadn’t been invented back then, so I couldn’t cyberstalk him to see what he’d
been up to. So, on a whim, I gave him my phone number and remember thinking that if he called, I would give him a chance, a second chance to be my friend. I missed his smile, his jokes and his sincerity.
Though I hadn’t spoken to him in almost a decade, it was like we had never been apart the first time he called.
One phone call led to another call which led to another call and an invitation to dinner and a movie. The next thing I knew, we were saying “I do,” in front of all our family and friends a year later.
The point of this story is that I know deep in my heart that if I had held on to the anger and resentment I felt when Mark and I broke up, I would never have been able to
give him, or ultimately me, a second chance at happiness. I'm not saying that there was anything magical about that chance meeting with friends or that a phone call would land me a marriage proposal, but I can't rule it out just yet. Either way, I’m grateful that I was able to put the past behind me and move on.
We see famous people getting second chances from a forgiving public and special people in their lives day after day. I mean, think about it for a minute. How many second chances did Mel Gibson get before we finally wrote him off? How about Kim Kardashian? Bill Clinton? Joe Paterno?
I would love to hear your stories, new readers, of past hurts you have been able to
overcome and offer second chances, even when people don’t deserve it? Or have you found yourself unwilling or unable to offer that second chance?