Love happens…

There’s a new movie coming out called “Love Happens”. It stars Jennifer Anniston. I am sure that it is a romantic comedy in the traditional romantic comedy fashion. There’s love. There is loss. And there is love again. We love these movies because they inspire eternal hope. However, is reality that different?

Romantic hope springs eternal. Even as the divorce rate remains high. The overall marriage rate remains relatively constant. That illustrates that people continue to believe in love in spite of the break ups.

My divorcée neighbor has been on about ten dates in the past two months despite being mistreated by a couple of men that she claims to love. My sister recently traveled to Washington DC from Atlanta for a blind date even though the men in Atlanta have sometimes disappointed her. She will also have another date in New Orleans this month. Another friend plotted for some time to reunite with an old flame another state even though her last boyfriend failed to meet her expectations.

Sometimes love actually happens. And we hear about enough real life examples that we still believe.

Last night I sat next to a colleague who told me about her grand child and her fiancé—that she met on a blind date— in the same breath. Even though her first marriage ended she is getting re-married next year. A good friend is marrying a man who she met at a cook out, in another state, four years ago. She has fertilized that relationship even though distance and her friends may have said otherwise.

I have been having a great time with a guy who I met in boxing class. Who knew that exercise might inspire romance?!

Love seems to happen when you least expect it. You have to make your own decision despite what others say that you should do. After all, it is your relationship and your life.

The movies merely remind us about what we know to be true. Love, romance, acceptance—all those things that we hope for might be just around the corner, at the next cook out or at the gym. For that reason, we keep hoping. Indeed, we keeping waxing, we keep dating. We keep kissing frogs hoping to find our princes. Isn’t that the point after all? Love happens. So, you had better be ready. Here’s hoping!