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Funny thing about falling in love. You can’t plan it—you’re overwhelmed—but when it comes, the game just changes.

I was introduced to her on a rainy evening, just after 9.

It was November, 2010 and I was out east for Max’s bris. The hour was late and due to family circumstance, the ex was there. It mattered not.

The attraction from that very first moment was immediate, sustained, and everything one could ask for. It was, and is, compelling.

Not easy at first. Staying at The Andrew (downtown), carless, I saw her only in window periods between Max’s naps. Michael knew, of course, and frowned upon it. Meredith, too, was aware, though—as usual—she had my back. The ex? She just rolled her eyes.

Again, it mattered not. Looking back, it seems such folly that people tried to separate us, to deny the inevitable. The pull, from Day One, was magnetic.

I’ve seen her every time I’ve been east—for a year and a half now. The pendulum of our relationship, in fact, has been quite typical. As time went on, the late night visits of the very beginning, (not really “booty calls”), became things of the past (once I started staying with the Caryn and Stuart). That doesn’t mean, though, that they weren’t thought about. Nightly.

These days we grab moments if able, and— like other established couples— have morphed into a comfortable predictability. So I see her at breakfast, (when I can). And I stop by at lunch (when I can), and after a year and a half, I don’t care who knows it. Out there, at least, I flaunt it.

She’s met Max—I’ve taken him alone. And the kids. And the Millers, God bless them, encourage the relationship. Daily.

It’s not always, however, smooth. My son, his eye to my past choices, is skeptical.

“Why do you have to, Dad?” he’ll ask each visit.
“Your father’s happy,” says his wife.

And so I go to her…each time. Usually by car, one time by foot…but I go.

If I’m alone she lets me read the paper; if I’m with kin, with warmth she envelopes my family.

And I smile. We all do.

She is The Great Neck Diner, 14 Grace Avenue, Great Neck, New York (in the Historic Great Neck Plaza). If you get there, ask for Mike. (He’s the one that introduced us).

And look for me…and Max.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Up From Dysfunction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.