An Update: The woman I thought "didn't get it" did...on her time line. This is a love story. Skip to Act 2 below...then read Act 1.

Act 1
You can survive a broken heart. No, it’s not easy. In fact, it damn near brought me to my knees...and I’ve seen combat and been in some tough spots over the years. Some wag once said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Maybe. But, I’ve seen it harden people, as well. For better or worse, that’s not me. I’m an incurable romantic...no apologies. The woman who broke my heart a year and a half ago called last week....out of the blue. We talked for a long time. We’ve talked every day since...often more than once. We email, text and tweet, too. She’s 1,287 miles away...but much closer in my heart. As you can see...she is beautiful. She’s smart...a Ph. D. in economics. She inspired me in so many ways. I lost 59 pounds...and now weigh the same as when I played college ball! She is my muse...inspiring a book...and now a screenplay. We lived together for two years...and just days from giving her a diamond ring...we broke up. She loves me still, she said yesterday. I can’t lie, she’s never been far from my thoughts or heart. We were soul mates...a term only a fool bothers to debate...because only those who experience it know it. Everything we did...we did with passion. It was exquisite. We both lived more in those two years than some do in a life time. But we came undone because of human frailties. As Shakespeare warned, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves...” We were unwilling to address an elephant in the room...a problem that doesn’t go away on its own. With wisdom, we discover, you can’t change people. But people CAN change. It has to come from within...and it’s not easy. Perhaps more fail than succeed. I do not know. But, I do know my heart is light again....for the first time in a long time. All my senses are sharper in the past few days. I hear songs that we used to dance to...that played as we made love. Foods taste better. Smells are sweeter. We are going to meet in Atlanta. A line of dialogue from Shawshank Redemption - a favorite movie - keeps playing in my mind. It captures exactly how I feel now...and probably how I will feel when I see her at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport at 3:35 P.M. next Tuesday: “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain...I hope.” Everyone should know this joy!

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Act 2

Heading back to Gainesville for a Ph. D. Traveled the world. Love the arts...the good life. Carpe Diem! Looking for woman of substance, intelligence, humor, sensuality and beauty inside and out. I am a good kisser...something that's important. Kissing is an art...not foreplay for two minutes before sex! Yes, I am looking for a soulmate. I once wrote this to a woman I loved...she didn't get it...I hope someone does. But that search starts with getting to know you as a person. We will both know if and when it is right! So, read...and let me know...BTW, one photo of me is when I was 4 and my older sister dressed me up as a gypsy woman...hell...is that cute or what?

What does it take for you to be happy? Think about it...this place you haven’t been lately — maybe rarely — in your life. Happiness. It might help to look at what has not brought either of us happiness. Money — other than what’s really necessary — isn’t the answer. It isn’t anything money can buy. Has any of the jewelry, clothes, spa visits, vacations, furniture, cars — any material possession — delivered more than fleeting pleasure?

Sweetheart, are you ready to follow your dreams? Are you ready to pursue passionately something you never thought possible? We can’t buy our way into this club. Family name and position don’t mean a thing.

What do you want to do the rest of your life? What do you possess within that can enrich the world...that leaves it better than you found it? I see something — incredible good and caring — in you. Do you?

I am going to write. Writing is both means and ends for me. Only you and writing have given me the joy...and challenges...I seek. I want to use my talents to make a difference. There are no barriers — other than self-imposed — to what I can do. And, I intend to pursue my dreams with reckless abandon. I am not going to play it safe. That doesn’t mean carelessly...but with unbridled exuberance and passion. I am not going to waste a single day trying to prolong my days. Instead, as Jack London said when he wrote his own credo: I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I want — desperately — for you to be with me every step of this journey. You can share and help make my dreams come true, and I yours. But, I want to know what you want more than anything else? You...we...can do it. Don’t let location deter or sway your thinking. Don’t worry or even think about how we are going to do whatever “this” might be. That thinking and action are the next steps...we can and will make it happen. Remember, when you do what you love...money is like water...it seeks its own level. Trust me, there will be enough. Money has not brought happiness in the past...and it will not define our joy in the future.

We can be happy...truly happy...these years we have left together. Let’s make a difference...in our lives and those of others. Let’s make every day count! No one or no thing is more important to me than you. Do you understand? No one or no thing comes before you. I don’t want to laugh or cry without you...every emotion we might experience as individuals will be more gratifying or more easily endured together.

Relationships...not things...prevail. I want us to explore fully our relationship...making the most of it every day....growing, realizing our potential as individuals and as a couple. We both have a goodness in us...and we can make a difference...let’s explore our spirituality and determine how.

Rather than some empty philosophical ramblings, this is an opportunity to change our lives — for the better — and I cannot think of a better time. My thoughts here are a spring board, a point of departure for our honest and genuine discussion of a meaningful life together. We hold our futures in our own hands...how long have we yearned for that...and how long have we waited for this chance? You are my muse, my lover, my best friend and trusted companion...my soulmate. We need to think big...and small. It is our time...let’s take a leap.

So, again, what does it take for you to be happy?