Jim

Seriously, couldn’t you guess Mr. Wonderful was Jim?  Two weeks on the road?  C’mon now.... Two weeks of the best bridge we ever played.  Two weeks of hot tubbing at midnight.  Two weeks of laughing ourselves silly in the middle of the night.

Yeah...it was him...four years of eyeing each other.  I told Rick we had known each other for that long.  His response?  “Geez...I wouldn’t have even waited for J Lo for four years.”

Sixteen years of being a widow for me.  Twelve years of being divorced for him.  We both had kids to raise and jobs to focus on.  There was no time for relationships.  You can’t bring just anyone into your family.  I think it makes kids insecure.  Who is this person and what impact is this going to have on me?  Anyway, for him and for me, it just never seemed the right thing to do.

This was a slow to boil relationship.  We had both just gotten out of relationships and were not looking to jump into another one.  Mainly, we met for hot chocolate, a drink or a movie and talked for hours.

What were our non-negotiables?  Loyalty and honesty.  Complete honesty.  Not a need-to-know honesty.  I may not like it but just tell me.  Same for him.  Cheating is not an option.  There has to be trust.  We’re both independent people with our own routines.  We’re not together 24/7.  We both know when we are not together, there is nothing to worry about.

He says he’s dull.  I say, “Thank God!”  He’s stable, he’s steady, he rights my listing ship when I need it.  On our last trip, I lost my cell phone twice, my hairbrush for days, my keys, my bank card....I’m not kidding.  This is me.  This is what I do.  I’m not happy about it but it invariably happens.  Of course, he found everything and still smiles at me.

Our politics are different.  I’m the flaming liberal, he’s the libertarian a la Ron Paul style.  I always thought I’d have to have a clone of me, but I understand his thinking and he respects mine.  Our values are solid down the line.  We are family people first.  He adores his kids and grandkids and same for me.

We both think about leaving the suburbs and moving into Baltimore where life is livelier and we can walk everywhere.  We also aspire to be beach bums so Florida winters could be on the horizon.

We’re both readers...poring through every section of the Washington Post daily.  We love the movies...although I’m more of a movie snob than he is.  He’ll go to movies I wouldn’t dream of seeing.  He wanted me to see “Act of Valor” with him today...don’t think so...way too much violence.  But, we’ll meet at our favorite Portuguese restaurant afterwards.

He’s a sugar addict, not inclined to eat his vegetables, but he runs and works out every day. I swear he’ll live twenty years longer than me who eschews sugar (except for chocolate) and could easily be a vegetarian.  I watch every calorie and he eats enough for two men and never gains a pound.

My absolute best relationships have been rock steady.  I abhor the drama that accompanies roller coaster relationships.  The ups, the downs, the angst.  No, thank you.  Enough of that.  Of course, I should’ve figured that out a couple of years ago before things got so weird with John but I didn’t.

I asked Jim a couple of nights ago, “You couldn’t have rescued me earlier?”  “You weren’t ready,” he replied.  I guess he’s right.  Everything happens the way it’s supposed to according to the masters.

This has been an easy relationship.  We are friends first.  We care deeply about each other.  We respect each other’s desire for solitude but also love our time together.  We share a love for travel, music, arts and we are each other’s best bridge partner.

I don’t know how long it will last.  It’s early.  Time will tell.  I have a good feeling.  I tell him I’m the happiest girl in America.  He laughs at me.

But, I truly mean it.  Today, I am the happiest girl in America!