If you haven’t already figured this out, I like stories. Decidedly that, I love stories. But not just any stories, human stories, true stories, and especially stories with happy endings. Which brings me to my story of today and the questions “what is a happy ending?” and “how long is happily ever after?” “And when does ‘forever’ start and end?”
I was reminded this morning by a message from a friend I hadn’t heard from in a long time, who is actually the subject of my story. Rather, she is the subject of her story and that of her and her husbands, which to me is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever heard.
I won’t go into the details of this couple’s story because I am not sure how much of it I am privy to as a friend and how much of it they share with others. And also, I think this story could make a great movie someday, but therein lies one of the questions again, “where should the movie end?”
In a nut shell, here is one of my favorite love stories. I heard it first from my friend who I will call Jack and his love interest I will call Jill, in order to protect the privacy of these two individuals. Jack shared with me that growing up he used to have an “imaginary” friend. He used to call this imaginary friend Jill and he used to play with her and they would have great times together. In fact, they were always together.
At one point, as Jack started to grow up, his imaginary friend would appear less and less until one day she no longer came to play. Jack was very distraught by this and missed her greatly. He never forgot Jill and thought of her often as he was growing up. Jack grew up and went to college. One day while at a college party, Jack ran into a girl, and he couldn’t believe his eyes, (I’m getting chills as I write this… I’m such a hopeless romantic), there in front of him was Jill. Jill! The imaginary friend he had loved all his life, played with and missed, only Jill was there in “real life,” standing in front of him.
Unbeknownst to Jack, Jill had remembered playing with him too and the two of them instantly recognized each other. Neither of them could believe their eyes. They were elated and felt as if they were long lost friends and were finally reunited. From that moment on, Jack and Jill were inseparable. Everyone that saw Jack and Jill together knew that this was a match made in heaven. Everyone they told their story too said it was the most romantic story they had ever heard.
Jack and Jill got married, had two beautiful children and lived happily ever after.
How can you not love that story?
So, the first question is, what is that about? Who was this imaginary friend and what was going on there? In fact, what is going on here? There is more going on here than meets the eye, obviously. How can two children know each other, though they had never met, and how could they have “played” together in their minds before meeting in person. Mind you, these two were born and lived in different parts of the Country as children.
So, those of us who believe in past lives and in other dimensions and… would laugh at this and say, “of course,” and have some great explanations for us. Those of us who don’t believe in “that stuff” either won’t think about it, call it a “coincidence,” or just have no explanation.
But me, I think about these things, and I wonder, when did “forever” begin? Did it begin when these two were children? Did it begin before they were born?
And now the kicker. When does happily ever after begin or end? And what does it mean to be “happy?” Because this story obviously has not ended yet, because the couple is both happily alive and well. However, this couple is no longer living as a couple. They are no longer together. So what does that mean? Does that mean this relationship failed? Does that mean the whole “playing together in their minds” thing was a joke?
How long was this relationship supposed to last? How long before we can say, “yup, they did it right,” or “now that is a true love story?” And best of all, why do we need to judge it?
I don’t now if anyone else needs to judge it, but I feel like I do. Not for the sake of judging, but because I want to know what is real. “What is real?” It seems to me that there are people who would not have thought Jack’s playing with an imaginary friend was real. But does it stand to reason that the fact that these two are not together at the moment is not “real” either? What’s real?
And I think it is interesting how this couple has been here before, only in the other dimensions. Remember, Jill stopped coming around to play when they were kids in the “imaginary” world, and Jack was distraught. Well, as it turns out, in this world, Jill was the one who left Jack, and Jack was and is distraught.
Who’s to say that this couple won’t meet again as it was before and “ever after” will continue, and hopefully, “happily” so. And what if this couple were to get together in this world someday, and what if this couple would have learned something of great importance during their time away? Then that would mean, that this was perfect and that they needed to go through this. Well then, if it was perfect, has “happily ever after” been interrupted, or does “happily ever after” include the learning periods, the separation periods, maybe even the “fighting” periods.
One thing for sure, I consider both Jack and Jill my friends and as far as I am concerned, they are both doing what they think is right and best for them at this time, based on what they know or believe. I will be following this story, to be sure. But what this has made me realize, is that if there is a “happily ever after,” it started long before we know and can remember at the moment, and it goes on long after we leave our particular bodies.
And as for “real,” how do I know that in the whole scheme of things, THIS experience I am having is the dream in which I am writing to and playing with all of you and who knows, maybe we will all see each other in the “real” waking state and say, “hey, I used to write blogs to you in the dream…”