Never jump to conclusions...

So near, yet so far away...

"Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you" ~ EXPLORE

It was my soul mate that got away. It was all a total misunderstanding, too. We were very young, and still searching for who we were, and getting an education.



My soul mate had gone out of state with a couple of his friends, and just to explore life, and see a bit of the world, in Arizona.



We were expected to marry at some point in time by his family. He was the oldest child of a family of eight children, seven boys and one girl.



I was only 13 when we met, and he 15. He was not a very handsome young man, but had a wonderfully deep and caring personality. He was well over sis feet in height, and really lanky, with a ruddy complexion. But, he always treated me with respect. The two of us enjoyed sharing whatever we had to talk about.



Even though he was dyslexic, he had a wonderful mind. Dyslexia had not even been known at that time, as it was in the late 1950s.



Actually, we didn't even know each other until while spending a weekend with my best friend, she and I were upstairs laughing and talking about girl stuff.



Neither of us were not even aware he was downstairs talking with my older sister. She was helping him with his reading problem. My sister was going on eighteen, so her motives were admirable. Besides, she was carrying torch of one of the brothers of my friend.



Later, when my sister and I were driving home, she told me that he felt badly about our laughing. He thought we were laughing at him trying to read.



I felt so bad for him, and I wanted him to know that I had no idea the he was even there. I called my friend to get his phone number so I could explain and try to set things straight. Besides, I would never on earth laugh at anyone for something that was beyond their control like that.



We got into a long conversation, and things progressed from there. Only once did he even attempt anything inappropriate, and once I made myself clear on the issue, he never again even try to cross that line again, not in the four years we were considered a couple in love.



The misunderstanding:



After he had been away in Arizona for a couple of months, I received his most recent letter. That letter broke my heart. He stated that if I wanted to date anyone else, it was alright.



I took that to mean he had found someone else that he was interested in, and was probably dating them.



That was more than forty-eight years ago, and I still miss him in my life. It took more than a year before I even thought about dating anyone else. I cried myself to sleep nearly every night.



Eventually, I met the man I married. He passed away in 1995 of Brain Cancer. I never even considered thinking about anyone else possible sharing my life until the last couple of years. My first love began popping up in my head again.



Did I tell you that when my soul mate finally visited my parents, who lived next door to my family and I, we invited them all to dinner at our place.



His wife was almost an exact duplicate of myself, (physically anyway). We could have passes for sisters, if not almost identical twins. Needless to say, she hated me, as I'm sure she also saw the similarity.