Those were the first words that came out of his mouth as he stood gazing romantically into my eyes. On second thought, it was more like, “Excuse me, my arm is about to fall off!” As he stood there with a piercingly painful look as a tear fell from his eye. I had accidentally closed his arm in the door as he was exiting the plane. Oops. Disastrous for some but destiny for us. It was the spark that led to our further conversation.

Graham is a very successful commercial real estate broker who lives in a suburb outside Chicago. He’s got a huge house, three fireplaces, and a German Shepherd named Duke…at least, that’s how I imagine him to live. Since he’s almost always on the road, I haven’t had the pleasure of spending time with him at his home, which I guess would mean he has duffel bag tendencies. But at least he’s a Prada duffel bag. Not that it’s affected us much. Over time we’ve managed to develop a pretty healthy long-distance and occasional short-instance relationship. And nowadays, with cell phones, emails, and two-way pagers, we’ve been able to develop a promising relationship knowing that he’s never more than an electronic device away.

I quickly tore open the envelope. Several rose petals and a handwritten note inscribed on the finest cut of linen parchment dropped from the package. Inhaling its fragrance, I began to read.

Dearest Montana,

I hope all is well. Though you are absent in body, you are present in mind.

Mmmph. Graham is not only fine, but he’s poetic too. You go, Graham.

I’ve had a change of business plans and I’ll be spending Thanksgiving at home this year. I know it’s short notice, but I would love for you to join me for an evening you won’t soon forget.

Love,

Graham.

Swiftly rummaging through the envelope, I noticed another surprise—a round-trip plane ticket to Chicago. Not that I needed it to travel, but the gentlemanly gesture speaks volumes to the kind of man Graham is.