I believe my dad is the first person I ever heard use the word "serendipity" in a sentence. I wasn't sure what it meant then. When I finally looked it up and understood its commonly accepted definition, I was well into adulthood. I learned that the word means everything seems to be coming together in a manner which leads one's life in a very happy direction. Some say the stars are aligned. Or, it's in the cards. Basically, it's the best term I can think of to describe my life in one word at present.

See, A few months ago I was in a bad place. I think some of you know this already. I've been an open book for some time. I do that on purpose. It helps me process and remember that I'm not alone in my struggles. Although the proverbial struggle seems to be coming to a head. Oh sure, a tumultuous divorce and having to move unexpectedly with no plan and not enough money saved certainly didn't allow for smooth sailing and the waters are still a bit choppy; the storm is subsiding and the sun is peering from behind the clouds.

If it sounds as though my writing is slightly more poetic than usual, perhaps it is because I am not only experiencing an overwhelming upswing in my career path, I am also in love with the woman I will certainly grow old and die with. She and I met in third grade. We spent a lot of time together until we went to our eighth grade graduation dance together. After which, I wound up having to run away from home to remove myself from an extremely toxic and abusive environment and, unbeknownst to me, she too had to take measures to survive emotional ordeal. We went our separate ways and lost touch that summer thirty-three years ago.

A few years ago, I saw her name and face pop up on Facebook. Of course. I didn't think much of it. I was in a committed relationship with the mother of my children and going about my business. We exchanged a couple of lines of text via messenger. She told me she was working as a social worker in NJ not far form where we grew up. I told her a bit about my career path and my family. That was it. Life went on.

Before during and after separating from my children's mother, I was working on producing a monthly journal which I have written about on this blog (it is due to be released in a matter of days). As I chipped away at the content and was satisfied that I had enough material to start sharing rough drafts with friends and cohorts, I sent it around to people on social media. Among that group of people were several childhood friends whom I've kept in touch with over the years. It is a project I am quite proud of and excited to share with everyone. So, I sent my middle-school-sweetheart a copy. Why wouldn't I?

She read it and returned some very positive and uplifting feedback. Everyone did really, but this felt different. I was compelled to engage her in conversation. For no other reason than to connect with an old friend. One message lead to another. We began to catch up and relate. I told her about my recent separation and how life had gone from a very dark place to being on track towards a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. She told me about her two divorces and her career in the clinical social work sector working with children. We continued back and forth for days with no end in sight. I asked her if we could talk on the phone. We did. Since then we've been like teenagers on the phone and texting morning noon and night.

Our relationship has progressed rather quickly from childhood friends catching up and remembering some good times walking to school and attending Halloween parties in my parent's basement to making plans to have a life and grow old and die together. She and I are the same age, three days apart. We have both been around the block more than enough time. While our careers have taken on drastically different forms, our overall interests seem to mesh well. In some ways we are opposite, I am far more extroverted and adventurous than she, she is more rooted and stable than I. I believe we balance each other in many ways. As far as I can tell, we both agree we've not felt as deeply and passionate about a lover before. We are friends first. We share a desire to live a peaceful life full of affection and passion.

We will be meeting for the first time as adults in just under two months when she picks me up from the airport in Newark, NJ. We have made solid plans to spend the month together outside of some of my business meetings and gigs. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to anticipate. She is worried that I will not be attracted to her when we see each other. I wish I could assure her that my heart and mind are already made up. My main concern is that as a grown woman with her own home and a very stable career she is way out of my league and will soon discover that I might be too much of a daydreamer for her. We are madly in love, I believe I can say this confidently. I have never been so sure of something in my life. I know I want to share the rest of my days with her, she has expressed the same to me.

We have come up with the idea to co-author a blog about us and our adventures falling in love and creating a life together. What better place that Hive to do that. I think April will be a good time to start; it cannot get here soon enough. I look forward to introducing her to my followers and the community here. She's an incredibly intelligent and expressive individual. She is beautiful on the inside and outside, a truly genuine compassionate soul. Her name is Tammy. I love her.