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I thought I'd put my dreams far enough away...

She captivated me from the start. Her manner, her voice and what it said, her faith, her sweetness, her wit, her intellect, her strength, her kindness. I made the mistake of falling completely at her feet, and probably lost her right there. I still pined for a while, then eventually, I had to deal with the fact that it was not to be, as her life moved conclusively in a different direction. I saw her for the first time in almost four years yesterday, and got some news about a change in her situation. There are still a hundred reasons why it is not promising, not the least of which is that her interest, if there ever was any, is likely a brief smudge in the distant past. Nonetheless, what was previously 100% out of the question is now moved a couple of percentage points back into the realm of possibility. Extremely slim possibility, that I'd best put out of my mind. It reminds me of the old joke - a guy approaches a woman who'd turned him down dozens of times previously and says "I ask you out every day. What are the chances that you'll actually go out with me?", to which she replies "About a million to one." He skips away, beaming, proclaiming, "There is a chance!"