So long ago, there was a girl who landed the best job ever. It allowed her to live a dream that most people could not even imagine. That was enough. One day she was asked to take on an assignment that defied logic and seemed to defy the job itself. She said that she could not accept her assignment, but before she knew it, she was swept away to a far away place, her and the boy.
He was older, however, his life changed course when he was 15 and ever since then, his life was not his own. He lived under great restraints of contracts, meetings, and expectations. This burden taking away his normal growth and replacing it with great distraction and chaos.
Now, everything felt like the restraints were off on this great tour. The girl was very grounded and she helped the boy in so many ways to learn about himself, but first, his un-tethered freedom demanded that he find limits to living without rules and restraints. In doing so, he brought so much controversy down upon himself personally. But the girl, did not walk away. She was patient with him.
She continued to show him the best of who he was and piece by piece, helped him rebuild vital parts of his life, one relationship at a time. The people around him could see this. Off in the distance the force that started this trip continued to make itself known daily, seeming to have no control over anything.
This growth and discovery of self brought him into one of the most creative periods of his life and not only for himself, but for others. The girl somehow had the ability to show him that he was worth so much more than he ever knew, not because of what he could do, or what he was known for, but for the true person that he was. That once 15 year old boy started growing at this time, and despite all the things that would happen in the future, that growth the girl was able to help him realize could not be stopped.
The boy loved her like he could love no one else because of her selfless work to give him back the part of him that he lost. Just like his growth, their love seemed unstoppable. What could possibly go wrong?
What happened next can never be understood. The person who gave the girl her mission asked for a simple thing. The boy went to her, strong and confident, making changes to his life, unstoppable, happy and content. But that night, he did not return to the girl.
A few days passed when the girl and boy arrived at a previously scheduled event. They met face to face. She saw something she had not seen before. He was confused and disoriented. Something happened but she did not know what. He told her that it was over for them and he did not say anything more.
She cried for her loss, she cried for him too because she had helped heal one of the biggest casualties of his life and they had been going to leave on a great trip within days to change the world and most importantly his live and the life of a dear friend.
She wondered if the coordinator always knew this was how the mission ended, if the whole thing was planned to play out this way, the boy never really being hers. The loss was devastating, because the greatest joy had been all of the healing he had found with her. Their almost 2 years together were over. Well, sort of.
The boy did still love the girl and he came to see her periodically over the next two years. He knew that she had changed things in his life that will never stop growing. It was a gift he could never repay and never put into words in her presence.
His own life had changed dramatically over the last two years and he gave up everything that he used to live with to focus on himself personally and his young son. Two years after their incredible mission ended, the boy stopped visiting the girl, it was really over.
When he was alone, he thought about her often. One afternoon while sitting at the piano, he played and sang the words that he wanted to say to her. These words would never be seen or heard by anyone else. They were like a personal journal of sorts. Private, not seen by others, until November of 2023 when every person in the world would see and hear it.
And now and then
If we must start again
Well, we will know for sure
That I will love you
Now and then
I miss you
Oh, now and then
I want you to be there for me
Always to return to me
I know it’s true
It’s all because of you
And if you go away
I know you’ll never stay
Maybe she told him to stop coming around. Maybe she knew that despite their incredible journey, they could never have it again and that he was still growing in his life, a growth that she showed him how to find. It was all because of her and he wanted to tell her.
She called out his name.
He called her Mother Superior on his composition.
She made such a difference in not only his life but so many others. People were born, relationships healed, unending inspiration composed, and countless stories can now be told that would have never happened without the girl. She was the only one who seemed to have truly lost everything.
I know that in reality, that cannot be true. Someone so giving will live a very fulfilling life. As I look back over the last 50 years of her life, I can see that she did indeed live richly in family and friends. It is incredible to think that so many things could have never been if it had not been for her. I am so glad the boy gave the girl the credit she deserved: “I know it’s true, it’s all because of you”.