Ninth

     “Contrary to what the cynics say, distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It’s for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It’s for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don’t see it nearly enough…”

- Oprah Winfrey

     Today, James and I are celebrating our ninth month as a couple.  For some reason, thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.  Tears brought about by mingled elation and bittersweet memories of a love story so unique and seemingly unlikely… of a romance that was borne out of friendship and a love that has built bridges that spanned a million miles.

     James and I have been apart longer than we’ve been together.  The first six and a half months of our relationship were spent a timezone apart.  I could still remember how challenging it was for us to grow closer day by day despite the distance between us, how painful it was during the cold nights that really tried our patience, and how trust, faith, and love have seen us through the most hurtful words and the most difficult situations.  It was during one of those long, lonely nights that I chanced upon the quote from Oprah that I’ve posted at the beginning of this entry.  It halted the flow of my tears and made me reflect for a moment about how special what James and I had was.

     I always say that falling in love happens by chance, but staying in love happens by choice.  James and I were best friends who never anticipated that we would fall in love.  But by some twist of fate, and we believe, by His will, we did.  And since then, it has been a love story that slowly unfolded to reveal a spectrum of colors.  It has been a long road, fraught with challenges and learnings, and we’re holding on, stronger than ever, with more faith and more love as we go forward every step of the way.

     A million words would never be enough to say how much James means to me, and a million tomorrows would never suffice to let him feel how much I love him.  But for now, I just hope and pray that inspite of all that has happened and all that may happen, the tight and topsy-turvy schedules, the pressure and demands from other aspects of our lives, and the people and circumstances that seemingly conspire to come between us… through it all, we would make it through.  Together, we could put all the pieces where they belong.