DEAR MR. RIGHT

Dear Mr. Right,

I've waited for you for a very long time, and, as I write this, I'm still waiting. I'm not sure if we've met or not, but I want you to know that I'm praying for you nonetheless. In fact, I'm praying for both of us—that we will meet when the time is right for us, and that we will have the wisdom to recognize when time is right for us to grow together and that we will be so very happy together.

I'm certain we'll bring our own unique histories and experiences to this relationship. I hope we can build on those experiences to create a life for ourselves. We must first build a solid friendship to lay the groundwork for our success, and allow things to take a natural course as we grow together.

We must remind ourselves that love and romance are different things. Romance is that special connection we will share with one another physically. Love is what we will experience at 8:00 on Monday morning when we're running late for work, when we forget to pay a bill, when the car breaks down, or when a loved one passes away. Love is the element that will sustain us as a couple, romance, hopefully, will solidify it.

Relationships are far from easy. We must be committed to work every day to maintain and nurture the relationship. We must be able to communicate with one another, not be afraid to admit when we are wrong, and to never go to bed angry. When we make mistakes, we must be willing to learn from them for the good of the couple.

I promise to be true to you, and to love you with my whole heart. Hard times will inevitably come our way. It is how we react to those hard times that will define us as a couple and will, to a great extent, determine our future.

When we reach the point of committing to one another exclusively, we must do so with our whole hearts and with absolute certainty in our hearts. To me, love is sacred. It is a gift I do not take lightly, and something I honor with my whole being.

Here's my confession: I'm anxious to welcome you into my heart, my life, my being. Yet, at the same time, I am cautious. I'm cautious to not rush things. I want to be able to offer my whole self to you. I want ours to be a different kind of love, one that people look at and know we were meant for one another. The chorus of one of my favorite songs says "I will take a heart whose nature is to beat for me alone, and fill it up with you, make all your joy and pain my own, no matter how deep a valley you go through. I will go there with you. And I will give myself to love the way love gave itself for me, and climb with you to mountaintops or swim a raging sea, to the place where one heart is made from two. I will go there with you."

That, in a nutshell, is exactly how I picture true and enduring love. I want to believe with every sinew of my being that it exists. I believe it does. The choice is up to us.

Until the time comes, I'll be in the future waiting to meet you, Mr. Right.