Friday morning I posted my most recent Sports Card Tour stop, Salt Lake City. I mentioned that Salt Lake City is home to an MLS franchise, a minor league baseball team, and a wonderful girl whom I crushed on for many years.
In the afternoon my wife took the girls to her mother's and I had the house to myself. I'll be there for the Fourth of July cookout by the time you read this, so I saw no reason to go two days in a row. I had planned on scrolling through my blogroll, leaving a few comments, and starting my San Antonio post.
Instead I decided to check in with that girl....
My previous blog The Pedestrian Writer was a place for me to share some of my story ideas, favorite songs, life lessons, crushes, etc. Some of you have read (or written) blogs that mention attractive women - from actors and singers to sideline reporters to stars of wrestling/fight sports. I did a lot of that, too. But the one girl that really captured my heart wasn't famous.
I'm long past the phase of swooning over a girl and journaling my thoughts. And this isn't the place for that, anyhow. Let's just say that she had a light inside of her that drew me in like a moth. She had a lot of struggles in her life but managed to stay positive and fight for her joy. She was a beautiful person inside and out.
She's mostly gone from the social media haunts I found her on, and I disconnected from them - and her - some time ago. But when I re-read that line in my SLC post I decided to do something I had only done once this year. I checked her Instagram.
She's engaged.
Now I want to be clear here - I'm not jealous. I'm happy. Well, actually I'm proud.
She and I communicated for a while, but we never became friends. I'm socially awkward and terrible at navigating social media. Also I'm married, which added a layer of guilt I won't get into. This is my comfort zone - long form writing. What twenty-something female wants to read blog posts? (She did, once upon a time.)
I looked at my social media experience like it was television. Everyone has a story to tell, and you're joining them in-progress. Choose to follow along, catch up, get hooked - or don't. I was hooked on her story. She even wrote a blog post page called "My Story - From Death to Life" so I felt like I was there from Season One.
Yesterday I saw the ending. She got a better job. She just moved into a house she bought with her fiancee (in SLC). They have a little puppy.
She has the life I always hoped she would. And they lived happily ever after....
I know that my mind would have wandered her way a lot more often in the past two years, had I not decided to write a blog about sports cards. So you won't see me on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook (and definitely not Tumblr-does anyone still use that?) ostensibly because I'm avoiding poisonous political rhetoric. But secretly? Because I don't want to run into another girl like her.
Obligatory card:
She won't be a Mele much longer.
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Until now, Sports Card Tour has kept me focused on positive thoughts and hobbies. This post doesn't belong here but I needed to write it as a final update on blog posts past and present. If you read this drivel, I'll award bonus SCT points to show my gratitude.
Tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming :-)
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