So lucky...

WRITERS WORKSHOP PROMPT:

Tell why you are ecstatic "The one that got away" got away.

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Only I'm changing it a bit to:

Tell why you are ecstatic "The one that almost got away" didn't get away.

He and his brother just got back from a four-day trip to Chicago, that husband of mine, and boy did I miss him. When he walked through the door upon his return, he took my breath away. TOOK IT AWAY. We looked passionately into one another’s eyes and wondered at how lucky we are to still be so in love after nearly 20 years. So lucky, especially when I think of how close I came to letting him get away so many years ago.

I’ve mentioned that I met my darling in a college Spanish class, but what I didn’t tell you was that I still had a boyfriend at the time. He had moved away for a while so it was a long distance relationship, but a relationship just the same. But when a young man walks past your desk and angels sing, well that sort of thing simply can’t be ignored. So I got to know Rick (my husband) and instantly fell for him even though I still was in contact with the boyfriend far away. In time I got to where I only wanted to be with Rick and my communications with the boyfriend became less frequent. I had all but moved on and was very happy until…
…the boyfriend moved back to town.

At first this didn’t change a thing. I didn’t even see or talk to the boyfriend for awhile, but then one night my dad came to tell me that the boyfriend had called and that he sounded very upset and that maybe I should call him to see if he was okay (later my dad very much regretted telling me this, but he had a big heart and didn’t want to see anyone get hurt). So I called. I agreed to meet. And I got sucked back in.

(Rick and I at Knott's Berry Farm. I was feeling so sad because I knew this was the end)

All of this happened while Rick was away visiting family in Idaho. He got back just in time to go to California with me and some friends of ours, a trip that we had planned some time before. We had a wonderful time going to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm together, but all the while the trip was clouded with my feelings of extreme guilt and I knew I had to tell Rick the truth. So I told him and he was very understanding, but I still felt guilty about it. So when we returned home and he said good-bye and take-care as I got into my car to leave, my guilt read his “take-care” message as more of a “see you, been nice knowing you, have a great life but not with me” kind of thing and I drove home heart broken.

Too devastated to talk to anyone, I left town with my family for a while, sleeping most of the trip away because I was so depressed, then came home and tried to settle into the idea that I was going to be with the boyfriend for the rest of my life. Yes, it was “meant to be” I tried to tell myself. But it wasn’t meant to be and I couldn’t settle so I called my dad and asked if he could please send me out of state to college so I could get away. He agreed and off I went. Once my head cleared and I got stronger I called Rick and HE WAS HAPPY TO HEAR FROM ME. Relief.
I then broke up with the boyfriend once and for all,

Rick and I got back together, got engaged and...

lived happily ever after.

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Whew, that was a close one.