Tonight, like any other night started off the same.  Swimming then zoning out to music on the way home.  Then my favorite part of every night, my niece and nephew.  We do this thing my brother and I used to do to torture our sisters.  Touch It!  we used to make them touch our finger like ET or wed fart on them.  I know its gross and childish but hell we were children and boys are gross. I taught them this, minus the other stuff of course.  Now when i walk in the house i am greeted with such exuberant excitement.  They run up to me and in their deepest voice the say Touch It!  I quickly touch their fingers and swoop them up hearing about the day.

     From their I scarf down dinner that has been put away by my beloved sister.  She is truly the heart of our family now.  My sister is the best any brother could ask for.  She is loving, kind, irritating, irrational, sweet, emotional, and always always supportive.  Tonight is a good night.  She has gotten into Aaron 1.0’s home brew.  My sister is so much fun, her giddy, smiling face is excitedly talking about her new necklace and how its meaning was the mantra for kamikaze pilots in WWII.  “I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.” After explaining what shes been reading, she sends the kids to bed. Touch It!  God they are so cool.  I touch their pointer fingers and kiss their heads goodnight. she bids goodnight and just like the old days “Touch It” she quickly laughs and runs off to bed.

     I get settled into bed and like every night I kill time by swiping right on tinder.  its like grown up duck duck goose. In reality it goes Duck Goose Goose Goose Duck Goose.  Apparently all the ducks we were as kids have grown into geese. That is when I had a match, only after 30 minutes of saying yes.  I said hello and at that point it all changed.  It will never be the same again.  Dating, love, my blog, this journey, my future, my purpose, it has been given a huge push towards the great mystical plan.  She had replied with “This is going to sound crazy but can I call you? i read your wordpress..”  What? Who? Hunh?  I was so a miffed, bewildered, flattered, excited and curious.  Why did she want to call?

     Let’s get this one thing clear I’m not an idiot.  When a beautiful woman wants to call you, who cares why.  It only took me a second to reply to her “Sure 302-898-5325.”  Within seconds my phone rang.  “Hey” i answered.  nothing. “Hello?” still nothing. Hi there? and then there she was as sweet as can be.  Hi i couldn’t hear you it never said it connected.  I couldn’t help but laugh and reply with “You have an iPhone don’t you?”  She was confused how did I know that she asked.  “Mine does the same thing.”  From there she explained why she wanted to call.  Melissa had read my blog and wanted to know more.  She was so moved that she couldn’t wait.  She wanted to hear from me and hear my own words of what I was doing.

     We talked, I told her about my divorce and how i came to the decision to make this journey.  I told her everything.  She listened and had nothing but questions.  I felt safe and like we had known each other for so long.  An instant connection perhaps.  So much so that for an hour all we talked about was the blog and my trip.  She explain how enthralled she had become with it.  how she wanted to know the person behind the pen.  This is the most exciting thing that has happened in a long time i thought.  We talked for another two hours and our conversation flowed like a steady rolling stream.  Moving from topic to topic with no end in sight.  As much as i loved listening to her tell me about her life she wanted to know more about me.  Back and forth we went, listening laughing, learning about each other.

     Who knows where this will lead.  One thing is certain, Mellisa is a reminder to me that i am doing what i am being called to do. As my friends have said “I must do this.”  This is going to be a very long, arduous, emotional journey that without a breath of fresh air like Mellisa to reinvigorate and reinforce me to write more. I will write more often and about anything that pertains to this adventure.  I realized in that moment with her on the phone, that it isn’t just myself that is going.  It is all of us, we are all leaving in April in our own way.  As each reader follows me, I will follow my path in front of me with only questions and no answers.

  * Yes that is my phone number and you can call and text too. I would love to hear from you.