I met Marcia at a summer camp years ago and we stayed in touch over the years. I had had a bit of a crush on her back then, and still did a little. When I arrived at her parents’ house, where she was still living, her first words were, 

“Mark, you need to take a shower.”

This was going juuuust as planned.....   all part of my Long Game.

For dinner, I ate about fifteen chicken nuggets and a large portion of squash casserole. I seemed to have a hole in my stomach, and of course, I didn’t want to appear rude by not eating everything that was offered. 

Marcia had some “things to do,” so Chris, her brother, took me to the riverfront where Mike Reagan, son of the previous POTUS, was attempting to break the record for the 1,027-mile run from New Orleans to St. Louis. 

Back at the house, I saw small Post-It notes everywhere with inspirational sayings on them. I initially thought they were just random motivational quotes, but apparently there was some significance to them.

“Mistakes aren’t the end, they are the beginning.”

“Leaders aren’t born, they’re developed.”

“It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle.”

“Don’t ever let anyone steal your dreams.”

That last one reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. Keep in mind that I am NOT a morning person:

“Don’t give up on your dreams…. keep sleeping.”

One of the quotes was cryptic, and I asked Marcia what it meant.

“Show the plan, share the dream.”

She replied with,

“You REALLY want to know?” and gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat.

“Yeah.”

Then she changed the subject.

Okay, she's being coy, or wants to play some kind of game. She’d tell me in her own time, I supposed.

The following evening she held up the note in her hand and asked,

“Do you still want to know?”

Her voice was like spun silk.

My breath caught....

“Ummm, yeah," I nodded.

She led me into the dimly-lit living room. No one was around, so we could talk privately.  We sat across from each other, knees almost touching. She was so beautiful. And she smelled clean. 

Something Big was happening between us.  Something Big with a capital B, and maybe even a capital I and a capital G as well. I could feel it.

Gazing into my eyes, she said….

“Have you ever heard of Amway?”