A Once In A Lifetime Opportunity

From the time I was in high school to just before I got married, I spent a lot of time with my cousin and one of her high school friends.

A LOT OF TIME.

This high school friend, I’ll call him John, is one of my favorite people in the world.

I have never laughed as hard with anyone as I have with him.

I had a massive crush on him for years.

Years and years and years.

He was never interested in me, though.

I gotta say, I spent many, many nights dreaming about the day we would finally become boyfriend and girlfriend.

It never happened.

And then, a few years ago, I finally figured out why.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t interested in me.

It was because he wasn’t interested in girls.

He was gay!

By the time he felt comfortable enough to publicly announce that, I was married and had a whole bunch of kids and we had drifted apart because our lives had just gone in completely different directions.

Until I saw him at a memorial party about a month ago.

And it was like no time had passed at all.

It was just like the old days.

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

I didn’t realize how much I missed John until I saw him last month.

He continues to be one of my favorite people on the planet.

And I was fortunate enough to meet his partner.

Not just his partner, but his fiancé.

They are getting married in September.

I meant to send him a note to let him know how good it was to see him and how happy I am for him and how glad I was to meet his future husband.

And then life got in the way and I just didn’t get around to it.

And then I got the mail today.

There was a fancy envelope in the mailbox.

I thought it was one of those invites from like a timeshare place or something because there was no name on the return address.

It was an invite.

But not to a timeshare.

TO THE WEDDING!!!

I was so excited.

Until I looked at the date.

It’s the same day as the half IronMan I’m registered for in September. My first half IronMan.

I don’t want to miss the race. I don’t want to flake out.

But I also don’t want to miss the wedding.

I REALLY don’t want to miss the wedding.

I’ve been feeling torn all day.

I want to stay committed to the triathlon.

But half IronMan races happen multiple times a year.

This wedding?

This wedding is only gonna happen once.

So I guess I just made up my mind.