“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.  For some they come in with the tide.  For others they sail forever on the horizon.”  (Zora Neale Hurston).

Did I remember the right type of wine?  That’s the thought in my head as I push the grocery-cart around the corner in Wal-Mart at 1:47 am.  I rubbed my sleepy eyes and tried to focus, looking for the 1 out of 15 open aisles.  Don’t you just love shopping at Wal-Mart? The day was Thursday, one of my only days off after a long hectic week of work.   Suddenly, out the corner of my eye; there it was.  The bright lights appeared at the end of aisle 7.  I quickened my steps trying to beat out the other shoppers who had too discovered this.  As I arrived at my destination, a deep sigh of disappointment fills and is released from me as I take view of the long line in front of me.  More time to kill.

As I stood in the back of the line, I begin to day dream about the butterflies deep in my stomach that appeared when I had finally gained the confidence to ask a certain beautiful young lady over for dinner.  We had been conversing for two weeks now, and I had realized that I was not only attracted to the beauty I saw on the outside, but also intrigued and drawn to her inner beauty of her mind, heart, and personality and sense of independence.  I wanted everything to be perfect, the food, the atmosphere, and of course the wine.  A kind bump in the middle of my back with a grocery cart by the POLITE lady standing behind brought me out of my day dream to acknowledge that I was no longer 9^th in line but now 6^th.

As I pushed my cart forward my eye caught a glimpse of the magazine section.  My eyes locked on one in particular.  The title read “101 Ways to Court a Woman,” by:  Some Lady.  As I browse through the top 12 ways, it soon dawned upon me that none of these things would work or did work with the lady I was attempting to court.  She had somehow transcended above these undemanding means to get her attention.  She did not expect me open the door for her, pay for her meal if we went to dinner, or even change a flat tire.  This new class of a lady drew me in like a bee to the sweetest flower.  My mind could not wrap around this fascination and confusion.

How could someone, so beautiful and attractive not be used to men throwing themselves at her feet and going up and beyond to do things for her to get her attention?  My mind re-winded back to my first encounter with her.    She was struggling while attempting to put a brand new 42” television in the back of her SUV.   I briefly ran over to attempt to assist her several times and she declined kindly several times.  After watching her break a nail and almost drop the new TV, I attempted to take it from her and place it her car for her.  She refused to let go and said, “Ok Mr. Superman if you must, then WE can do it TOGETHER.

She was very determined to not let me do it all for her.  This friends, was my first taste of an INDEPENDENT WOMAN.  I loved it!  There was a sense of strength and invigoration inside of her eyes.  Pure chivalry alone couldn’t catch her mind.  Sweet words were only sweet to her if they were sincere.  She suggested that “the only time guys said nice and sweet things were when they were trying to get something”.  I quickly interrupted with words of sincerity and said “you are right queen; I’m trying to get to know you.”  A smile came across her face,   I knew then that she believed what I had just said.

She was my ship at a distance.  I was not only excited about the challenge she would place before me to get to know her, but also curious about this new conversion of a woman.  I wasn’t going to wait for this ship on the horizon to come in with the tide.

To be continued ………………………………….