Amicus verus est rara avis

In a sense. I believe that there are people you just "connect" with on a level and to a depth that just does not naturally happen. Those connections aren't everyday, they happen very very rarely. Although I do not believe there is ONE specific person for everyone, (I don't think any god would be that cruel) I believe these connections could lead to a lasting person with whom you stay and a beautiful happily ever after. Have I met such people?

I have loved, truly loved, three men in my life. Each I felt that "click" with and for each it was almost as if no words were ever needed. Each was lost. Do I look back and wonder what would have happened if...? For the second two, yes. Do I regret? No, I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason. Each changed me, each made me the person I am and prepared me for the next (and hopefully final) connection.

I just managed to drop my cell phone in the bathwater. It's drying out, and hopefully will work again, but no promises. In the meantime, don't call the cell, because you won't get through. Call the house phone instead.

Liz

"Hi."

There's a cliff overlooking the hills surrounding Keuka Lake. My father took me there once, wanting to show me what he was sure was one of the last true, pure sights before commercial development. It's here I go in my mind at odd moments, or on still nights, unable to sleep from the pressures of the world. I stand at the edge of the cliff, toes digging through my sneakers, gripping, just a hairsbreadth away from leaning too far...and then, I let go. Falling? Flying? I don't know. I don't think it really matters.

I long to jump, to fall, to break free of the life that exists now. I desperately want to head out to those distant hills and not heed that which has kept me rooted at that cliff side for too long. It is in that one moment of peace and bliss that I understand the cry of a hawk, the scream of an eagle as it glides away, faster that its own shadow, away from all expectations and clinging responsibility, for one moment, a true, wild spirit, unfettered, beautiful. I want desperately to be nothing more than a fleeting memory to all, because I spent an eternity trying to be everything to one.

Let me fly.