For my Liza (Sweet Pea)

It began, as do so many romances, via god’s guiding hand.  From a simple chat from almost a year ago, she became a part of my life.  I learned of her likes, her dislikes, her concerns, as she did my own.  We spoke of each other’s past, timidly at first but with increased frankness as days and weeks passed.  We shared email pics...we chatted each day and spoke via Webcam.  For her, I did something I swore I’d never do: embrace social media and join Facebook.  We shared in each other’s daily routines, from family issues to meals eaten to weather updates to the occasional illness.  We found we had much in common, despite the great distance between us and the cultural differences.

   Less than two months from that first chat, I made the day and a half flight to the islands to greet her face to face.  Once there, I met her wonderful family.  For those ten magical days, she showed me her world. Nine months later, I await her arrival to mine.  I look forward to being her guide.  I look forward to speaking in person and not by keyboard or speaker.  I look forward to once again viewing her beauty in person and not via Webcam. I look forward…to everything with her. 

   The challenges we’ll face together will be many and trying, but we will face them together-as friends, as partners in all that we do, as lovers, as one. 

The waiting will soon be over...thank god.