Brave Enough To Be Bliss

Chapter 4 — Unknown Beauty

“One day you will wake up and there won ’ t be any more time to do the things you ’ ve always wanted. Do it now.” Paulo Coelho

Courage or stupidity? Either could be argued when I made the decision to check off a road trip from my bucket list and drive 14 hours to Michigan, where I rented an Airbnb for nine days. If I was going to drive that far, I was at least going to stay long enough to make it worthwhile. It felt a little brave and very fun to just take off not knowing where I was going or what was in store for me. I wasn’t nervous, just excited to go somewhere I’d never been before and see what it was like. I had seen a couple pictures online, but hadn’t searched or investigated anything. Those couple pictures looked pretty, so I figured since it had a lake view, how bad could it be? I have trouble staying awake when I drive, especially during the day as odd as that may sound, so several people had said they would call me on the way, which was great. It made the time pass quickly and since I was excited it really didn’t seem all that bad of a drive. Long day, yes. I was very glad to get out of the car when I arrived, but the drive wasn’t as awful as I had anticipated. And being able to check another item off the bucket list made it even more satisfying. I really do try to live not knowing how many more tomorrows I will have, so making the most of each one feels fulfilling. The idea of going to Michigan arose because I had become friends with Nathan, a man who is from Michigan and was in Kansas City visiting his two sons. We met when I was walking out of Target one evening after having exercised at the fitness center. He approached, said hello, and asked if I was single. He then introduced himself and asked if I’d like to get acquainted sometime and if so, if I would share my phone number. He asked what a good time was to call the next day, I said I was flexible, so he said he would call at noon. As I’ve mentioned, being caught off guard by a man is disconcerting to me, and I didn’t recall all of the conversation, but I did share my phone number. I figured he wouldn’t really call, but promptly at noon the next day I received the call. We chatted and he asked if I’d like to get together and go for a walk, get a drink , play pool, etc. Even though I don’t play pool, I figured it would be a safe place to meet him, so he said he would call on Thursday and we could determine what time. And I had worked into the conversation that my son-in-law was a police detective, figuring that might scare him away if he had any criminal thoughts. Since I was staying with Kylee and her husband for a few days before I could move into an apartment that I had signed a short-term lease for, I decided I should tell them where I would be just so someone would be aware of my whereabouts. When they asked how I met him and I shared the story, Kylee said and I quote, “No . J ust no.” It made me giggle inside thinking that my adult daughter was now telling me I couldn’t go out to meet a guy. Her husband quickly said, “Now hold on. Before online dating, how did people meet?” Watching them discuss

the “olden days” right in front of me still makes me giggle to this day. It was cute that they cared about my safety and ultimately, they did “let” me go. When he called Thursday to determine what time to meet, we decided on 3 p.m. as we both had already made plans with others to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play that evening. It seemed safe and while I was a little nervous, I had gotten to the point where I enjoyed meeting new people, so I figured there was no harm in getting acquainted. Until a few hours later when I had this quick text exchange with him. I thought that would be it and part of me was disappointed, but most of me was relieved. I moved into the apartment the next week and saw that I had missed a call from him. It surprised me to see that, and I started

338