Rain rain, you can stay
I just told Jane good-bye
I don’t think I can play today
I don’t even want to try

Pour on me, don’t hold back
Make it hard to go outside
Add some thunder if you please
I’ll let you decide

C’mon out and play with me
I just want to be your friend
I promise I won’t hurt you
Let’s play a game of pretend
Don’t be afraid of a little rain
I think it’s about to end

I have to admit she’s kind of nice
I really like her smile
I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try
Maybe play for a while

Where’d her other friend go?
He must have went away
I wonder if he returns
Will she ask me to leave or stay?

…. It really doesn’t matter now
It’s me she’s with today

C’mon out and play with me
I just want to be your friend
I promise I won’t hurt you
Let’s play a game of pretend
Don’t be afraid of a little rain
I think it’s about to end

Having fun playing with Jane
I could stay here all night
Is it true the hardest things to see?
Are what’s right in plain sight
Can something that seemed so wrong
Turn out to be just right

I think we may play for a while
I’m going to be her friend
We promised not to hurt each other
Not sure if that’s real or pretend
…. The sky has cleared, the stars have aligned
…. The rain has finally come to an end

About two and a half years ago I found myself on my knees exhausted and praying for strength. My cancer treatment had sucked the life out of me and I was desperately trying to deal with the hand I was dealt. All through my battle I tried to keep things in perspective and not complain, but I had reached my limit and really didn’t know how much more I could endure. Much to my gratification, my prayers would be answered shortly afterwards in a small gift of strength and patience from the most unlikely of sources… but as thick as I was; I almost refused to accept it.

I had a short period of a few days where I actually thought I was getting better. At one moment in time, I thought the worst was over and I could finally get on with living a normal life. I even re-activated my online dating profile and figured I’d give it another chance as well. Unfortunately, I was only online for a short period when I realized I wasn’t quite as ready as I thought I was and decided to shut it down. It would be a simple enough process; I just had to end my last correspondence with a lady I’d be talking to from Georgetown (a small town about 40 miles north of me) and give myself more time to heal.

This lady was different from other women I had talked to. I had initially contacted her by cutting and pasting the things she listed she was looking for on her profile page and putting “I am” in front of them; followed by “now you have no choice but to meet me”. I thought I was being witty and clever and wondered if she’d even notice, but she responded right away by asking “did you just cut and paste my words?” Not only was she quick witted and perceptive, but she seem to appreciate my sense of humor. I was somewhat intrigued by her and found it difficult to end our conversations, so we proceeded to meet for a drink at a local pub in Georgetown.

The whole day we were scheduled to get together I must of thought of a thousand or more excuses to use to cancel our first date; I just couldn’t bring myself to call it off. We met a couple times afterwards and things were going ok, but I knew I just couldn’t keep it up. I was exhausted dealing with a relapse in my condition and I was far from ready to live a normal life. So, I did what I thought was the right thing to do… I told her I wanted to end our relationship before it became too serious.

I was as honest as I could be in telling her I wasn’t healthy, had little energy, I was still dealing with a past relationship, and I wasn’t ready to be with anyone at this point… pretty simply right? Now that everything was out in the open all would go as planned; she’d understand, we’d wish each other the best of luck, and we’d go our separate ways… fortunately for me it didn’t quite work out that way. She just smiled and said very bluntly “so what”. I’m paraphrasing of course, but she quickly reminded me that we were both adults with a lot of similar interests; she wasn’t interested in falling in love either and there was no reason we couldn’t simply hang-out and do things together. What? Was this woman really suggesting that we could just be… friends? Is that really possible?

That summer we played golf and hockey, travelled, worked out, went to movies and BBQ’s, and laughed a lot together. The days I had little to no energy she seemed to have enough for both of us, and the days I needed to be alone she would simply do her own thing. For the most part I think we had everyone fooled into thinking we were actually a couple… people can be so naive. I mean seriously; she was intelligent, witty, kind, patient, active, attractive, loved sports, drank beer, liked Scotch, and never complained… what man in his right mind would want that? Not this guy… there was no way I was falling for all that.

It’s been about two years since I wrote “Playing With Jane” and we still laugh at how she had to convince me to come out and play. Every day I’m with her I find something new to love about this lady, her family, and her remarkable network of friends; I’m so fortunate and grateful to have her in my life. In a world where we never know what tomorrow has in mind for us, or even if we’re in it’s mind at all; I think we should all try to find someone to play, laugh, and enjoy the simpler moments with.

… Happy birthday Jane