A chapter in the life of love and the road

Love is a teacher. We love in order to learn.
Pain is a teacher. We lose and we hurt, but still, we learn something. You could conclude that we love to learn, because we so often long for love. And then love often brings with it, that other teacher, pain.

I do not so much long for love as I long for a resting place (though love should provide a resting place). Because, the thought of losing love is made that much worse by the realization that you no longer have a "home" and have to pack your bags. Get back on the road, where you had been, just trudging along, when someone pulled over and picked you up. Taking a chance on a lonely traveler, like picking up a hitchhiker or finding a stray cat. He took you home, and you sat with him on the back porch. He smiled and leaned into you, and you took a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like forever. Ah, rest, you thought. Finally I can rest.

But, like the stray that you are, one day you realize you seem to be constantly underfoot. You rub up against the now familiar warmth, you purr, and curl up in his lap - as you normally would. Then, he sneezes.

“Oh, I’m allergic to you,” he says, a bit concerned, “and, well, now that I think about it, I prefer tabby to calico (or Siamese or Persian - whatever it is that you are not). Yeah, I’m afraid this is not going to work out, but we sure had some good times.”

Inside, you feel broken, a little stunned. You should have trusted your instincts when they first told you to run. Still, on the outside you can appear very composed. With all your feline regalness, you hop down and stretch, deliberately licking each of your paws,

“No, don’t get up, I know how busy you are. I can show myself out the door.” You've done this before.

I take it back. It is not the loss of love, but the loss of hope that hurts the most (I'd like to think that love, if it really was love, would never have gone). The discovery of love, your heart’s home, was the hope. Love was hope’s empty promise. The lesson we learn is one your mom taught you long ago. Don’t go riding in cars with boys, no matter how tempting the offer.