Sunday, May 8, 2011

She lived in New York....

and He lived in London...
And they could hardly breathe without one another....
Nonetheless, his career kept him in Europe...
and hers as well, compounded by her "obligations" and "family",
 kept her on the Eastern Seaboard...
And so...
the "lovers" agreed to TRY IT....
to see whether the LOVE that they shared could endure the vast distance....
the infrequent visits...
She tossed and turned night after night....pining for him....
He paced the hallways of his home for hours and days and weeks...
FRUSTRATED....LOVE SICK....
It was a very difficult time....a sad time....
an IMPOSSIBLE situation....

And then one day in late May....
he received a letter from his corporation,
congratulating him....
and announcing that he was being PROMOTED...
and that the new position would be in NEW YORK !!
He sat down and CRIED like a baby !
tears of JOY and DISBELIEF...
He decided to SURPRISE her !!
The job would begin immediately....
He would fly out tomorrow and APPEAR on her doorstep in the evening..
after she'd returned from work...
and tell her in person !!
He would PROPOSE right then and there!!
She'd be THRILLED !!!

The next day he arrived at JFK, still in disbelief at this incredible turn of events....
He took a cab immediately to her apartment..
She would definitely be home by now.....
He was SHAKING with the anticipation of seeing THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE
and delivering the SPLENDID NEWS !
He listened at the door...
He heard the stereo playing a romantic song...
He knocked....
What happened next would stay with him, literally,
for the rest of his days....
The door was opened by his younger brother....wrapped only with a towel around his waist....
HIS BABY BROTHER !!!!!
The two men stood FROZEN, SILENT......
She then appeared to see who was at the door....dressed in just a man's shirt....
clearly wearing nothing underneath....
SHE WAS SHOCKED !!!
She began CRYING and PLEADING immediately....
His brother was SO ASHAMED....he could not even look him in the eye....
He turned on his heal, hailed a cab back to JFK....
headed back to London...
called his company....
and told them, flat out,
that he refused to leave his current position....PERIOD.
He NEVER SPOKE to either of them again....
The picture of that scene would be etched in his memory for the rest of his life....
He died some three years later....
of a BROKEN HEART.....

IS IT ALL RELATIVE ?

What makes a traumatic situation real and not somehow sensationalized or exaggerated ? What constitutes real trauma ? Is it all relative ? I...