You can survive a broken heart. No, it’s not easy. In fact, it damn near brought me to my knees...and I’ve seen combat and been in some tough spots over the years. Some wag once said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Maybe. But, I’ve seen it harden people, as well. For better or worse, that’s not me. I’m an incurable romantic...no apologies. The woman who broke my heart a year and a half ago called last week....out of the blue. We talked for a long time. We’ve talked every day since...often more than once. We email, text and tweet, too. She’s 1,287 miles away...but much closer in my heart. As you can see...she is beautiful. She’s smart...a Ph. D. in economics. She inspired me in so many ways. I lost 59 pounds...and now weigh the same as when I played college ball! She is my muse...inspiring a book...and now a screenplay. We lived together for two years...and just days from giving her a diamond ring...we broke up. She loves me still, she said yesterday. I can’t lie, she’s never been far from my thoughts or heart. We were soul mates...a term only a fool bothers to debate...because only those who experience it know it. Everything we did...we did with passion. It was exquisite. We both lived more in those two years than some do in a life time. But we came undone because of human frailties. As Shakespeare warned, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves...” We were unwilling to address an elephant in the room...a problem that doesn’t go away on its own. With wisdom, we discover, you can’t change people. But people CAN change. It has to come from within...and it’s not easy. Perhaps more fail than succeed. I do not know. But, I do know my heart is light again....for the first time in a long time. All my senses are sharper in the past few days. I hear songs that we used to dance to...that played as we made love. Foods taste better. Smells are sweeter. We are going to meet in Atlanta. A line of dialogue from Shawshank Redemption - a favorite movie - keeps playing in my mind. It captures exactly how I feel now...and probably how I will feel when I see her at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport at 3:35 P.M. next Tuesday: “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain...I hope.” My plea to her a year and a half ago...included in my profile...has found her heart. Everyone should know this joy.