“I am going to pray for you,” she said, with a sparkle in her eye.  “I’m going to pray to the Buddha that a nice man comes along and loves you and brings goodness and companionship to your life.”

It was hard to hear.  “That’s so lovely of you.  But truly, my life is so good.  I am happy for the love I have and have known and I enjoy my freedom as well.  I don’t know if a man could add much.”

“I am sure you are complete.  I know you are complete right now.  But it’s different.  I remember one day, sitting under a tree in the sunshine.  A beautiful day.  And I was looking up at the sky thinking ‘I am so happy.  What was life like before?’  I knew life was happy before.  I knew I had been complete before I met him.  But now he’s here and it’s a whole different kind of complete.  You’ll see.  I just feel so grateful that he is here.”

“Did you tell him that?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t.  but what I did tell him was that if he ran off with another woman tomorrow, I would forgive him and still be happy.  I would be sad of course, but all of the love, all of the help, all of the goodness he’s already given to me.  All he does every day for me.  Anything I get tomorrow is just more.  I have already gotten everything.  That’s why I told him, even if he runs off tomorrow, I could never be anything but grateful.”

“But I did ask him to just please leave me $5k to buy a plane ticket home.  Then we’re good.”  😊