Another one joins the flock (Part II)

[Mike85]

Wow. God works in amazing, mysterious ways...

I got a phone call at about 2:30 pm. It was W, sobbing and near-hysterical. She said she was stranded. She carpooled to work with OM, he dropped her off, was supposed to get her at 1... and didn't. She had been trying to get a hold of him via his cell, via his friends, and apparently no one knew where he was. She tried calling other people to help her, but no one was around. I was her last hope, and she said she felt like "a heel" for even asking me for help. She said she was afraid that OM was in a car accident, but he has had a long history of falling off the wagon and going AWOL for days when he was stressed.

I told her that I could come and get her. That started a whole conversation about how I'm still her H, that I still love her unconditionally and care for her, and that of course I'd want her to call me if she was sick, depressed, or truly in need (e.g., being stranded in the middle of a city, 40 miles from home). She said that she couldn't believe that I still felt that way about her after what she had done. She said I was an 'amazing man." She cried. A lot. We talked for a long time. She said that she wanted me to know that she still loved me too, that she knew that she was "screwed up," that she did like her lake lifestyle but felt torn, etc. Lots of crying. She consented to my getting her.

Just as I was getting my keys to go get her, she called back to say that some of her friends from the lake called her and said they were near her location and could get her. I wasn't needed for the ride. She called me a half-hour later, when they dropped her off at her house. Still no sign of OM.

She knew I was a little down with my birthday circumstances, and she didn't want to be alone. She also wanted to continue our conversation. She called MIL, who agreed to watching the kids.

I was nervous. I worried about what to say, what NOT to say. I realized that God placed this opportunity that I had prayed for before me, so I'd better not blow it.

She came and got me and the kids, dropped the kids off, and then it was just W and me.

We spent a few hours just driving around, going to her lake house, sitting on the dock, talking. She showed me her boat. I did a lot of listening. A female friend of hers called to check on her, and b/c of our seating, I couldn't help but hear W's half of the conversation. The female friend gave W "tough love" and got W to admit that OM was probably on a bender. W told her friend that she was with me and that I was "amazing" and being a "great friend", sitting with her and listening to her. After she hung up, W talked me into getting a haircut (she prefers my hair shorter, as opposed to the "Jim Morrison" length/style I was currently in). It was weird. So domestic.

Our conversations touched on what we'd each been doing, our accomplishments, our disappointments. W touched my leg once in a while. W told me that her female friend had told her that she's big-hearted and wants to believe the best in everyone, but that what OM did was selfish and something you wouldn't do to a FRIEND, let alone a girlfriend. I kept silent and listened. Our conversation was light for the most part.

Anyhow, hours later, we retrieved the kids, came back to the house. W said goodbye to the kids and spent a lot of time hugging our oldest. It was obvious that she misses him, his brother... and me.

When W and I said goodbye, we hugged for a looooooooong time. It was a good, tight hug. She quietly thanked me. She said she loved me. I whispered that I loved her too, waited a sec, and added "unconditionally and forever." She cried and hugged me harder. I'll admit it - I was crying too. She quietly asked me how it feels to know that when the chips are truly down for her, she always comes to me. I told her that it felt good. It was hard to let her go, but I did. One more soft kiss, and she left.

She's still living at the lake, is still with OM (assuming he ever returns), etc., and I shouldn't start planning for her imminent return, but, positive steps were taken. By both of us.

I had prayed to God every night and morning for Him to begin to open W's heart to me again. He saved this amazing day for my birthday. What a gift.