It’s funny how, with many people who fall in love with another, it takes time to realize. They meet, have a drink or coffee together, test the waters with that person for a few meetings or ‘ Dates’, and maybe after a few weeks or months they say to themselves, “I really love that person”. Of course, in more times than not, perhaps the other person doesn’t quite feel that way… for now or perhaps forever. Love has to grow first, and many therapists and psychologists hold to the theorem that true love takes time. I am sure this all makes sense. You really don’t know someone so quickly, and it is time that is the great decider. What about things called Karma or Destiny? Students of metaphysics like yours truly seem to grasp how vital those two factors are for the what can become True romantic love.
How out of the ordinary would it be to have someone answer a personal ad of yours and just like that love grows… just like that? She answered my ad because me, the drafter of if, and she, the responder, were both in need of finding someone to love and be loved… Just like that. When she walked into the Red Robin and laid eyes upon me I really didn’t have any doubts at all. It was like her letter to me with that classy photo cemented our initial meeting. When she sat with me for an hour in friendly and open conversation about our histories (sad but true) I just had to ask for that first kiss.. right then and there. She paused, as anyone who thought they didn’t know you well would do, and then gave her approval… just like that! When I reached over the table and my lips met hers she sighed, as open and unrehearsed a response as there could be.
With all her trepidation about ‘Who really is this smooth talking New York guy?’ (she from rural Michigan) and all that, she must have known the truth. She and I both had finally found that certain person we could love and receive love from. For me, it rolled in easily. For her, the normal fear of another emotional abandonment was understandable, considering her recent history. Why put all her chips in again only to get disappointed, with having a five year old angel to protect? She took a shot and agreed to see me again after I sent her a nice plant with an original poem to her office. Our next date and all the others that followed was as easy as the ‘Hook’ I used for my ad: A George Bailey seeking his Mary from that great Capra favorite of mine (and her) It’s a Wonderful Life… and for 34 years, through thick and thin, it sure was. God, I do miss her so!!
PA Farruggio
June 2026