You don’t say….

I really shouldn’t be posting this one, since it would lend well to a story. Truth is, I doubt any story I’d come up with would be as interesting as their own story.

They say there’s someone out there for everyone. Can’t say I believe that, unfortunately. I want to believe it but to me it’s sort of the same wishful thinking as believing in Santa Claus after you’re about eight years old. You hold onto the dream but deep down you know it’s just your folks putting the presents under the tree. The magic of Christmas eventually gets replaced by shiny things in big, gift-wrapped boxes. And you don’t even see that magic disappear. It’s there one year and then the next it’s gone.

I think the same holds true when it comes to the whole notion of soul mates. I recall in my early 20s assuming that within around 10 years I’d be married to someone and working on a family. I certainly didn’t feel even close to ready for any of it, but I naively assumed that that would all change, too. I figured inside me was someone else, an adult, waiting for me to grow into. It was that adult who would get married. Me, I was too young and crazy and irresponsible. At least, thankfully, I was savvy enough to see I was too irresponsible for something as big as marriage at that age. Not that I had anyone I was remotely interested in marrying at the time. But again, I assumed that once the adult inside me came out, I’d find my soul mate and that would be that.

In my early 30s I did meet someone very special to me. I was deeply and madly in love with her, but in the end she broke my heart. I ended up writing a poem about the very night our relationship finally came crashing down around us, like a house on fire. You can read it here. Most of it’s true, except for the two paragraphs in italics. Since then I haven’t had a lot of luck with the opposite sex. I did see another woman for a few years that I loved, but that relationship was flawed from the get-go and I knew it going in.

The couple in the photo may only be friends, of course, but where’s the fun in coming to that assumption. If you’re going to make conclusions without facts, then you might as well come to one that’s the most romantic, right? They look like they’re very comfortable with each other, and like they’re having a good time out. If you’re one of the fortunate ones following along who happen to have a very special someone in your life, a person who completes you, then this photo probably makes a lot of sense to you. You probably see it and think, Yes, there is indeed a special someone for everyone. If that’s the case, then good for you for still believing in magic. We’re never too old to believe, right?

I guess I had a lot more to say about this photo than I first thought. 🙂 Oh, and in case you missed it, yes that’s me in the reflection shooting from the hip. Happy Monday, everyone.