I met Alex earlier that summer. I had been through a divorce and was on the rebound. He was an old friend, so I decided to meet him. I met him at a Tim Horton's near my house. As any woman would I went shopping for the perfect outfit to wear that day. I chose a dress with huge bright happy tropical flowers on it. I told him it reflected how I felt. After a long, harsh difficult life of raising autistic children it seemed like I finally had a chance to live again. I drove my big huge white fourteen passenger van into the parking lot of the coffee shop. He later told me, "I know you said you had a big white van, but I wasn't expecting that!" I had raised eight children and three of those children were disabled who often had attendants who needed to travel with us. I had no choice but to have a vehicle the size of a bus. After the divorce it was my only vehicle.
I remember stepping out of the van, or should I say bouncing happily out of the van when I got into the parking lot. I saw Alex standing there by his car. He didn't move, he stood completely still, but in awe, staring at me with a huge smile on his face. It felt a little awkward because he couldn't take his eyes off of me. It was as if he didn't even take time to blink! I was a little surprised that he wasn't taller. He was exactly my height. It made it all the more awkward because as he stood there his eyes were directly lined up with mine. I gave him a hug to break the tension. As I hugged him I realized he was really solid. I was quite surprised. I expected him to be a little flabby and out of shape due to how much time he spent alone isolated in his room. It didn't sound like he got much exercise. I teased him by poking him in the chest saying, "Wow, you are pretty solid. I didn't expect that." I figured he'd appreciate the compliment.
We then went inside the Tim Horton's to get something to drink. The ladies on duty that day noticed that we both looked so happy it was as if we had just found out we'd won the lottery. I explained to the ladies that we were Internet friends for eight years and that on this day we had met for the first time. One lady offered to take our picture.
We then sat outside on the sidewalk curb drinking our beverages getting acquainted. I noticed that all the ladies in Tim Hortons who had waited on us stood watching us through the windows as if watching a Romantic movie. As we both noticed them and waved to them, they giggled. It was as if our happiness overflowed and spread to everyone we met that day. We noticed in the distance a big sign that said, "Sweetheart Corner." How fitting.
That summer I later found out that Alex was on a mission to get me baptized. Over the Internet he would always remind me that I needed to be baptized. I had been a Christian since 1980 and this had somehow gotten overlooked. I didn't think it was that important, but he was insistent. He could not understand why a Christian would overlook the most basic first step and think it was unimportant.
I later learned that in faith he had gone out and purchased me a white outfit to wear for my baptism. He had brought this outfit to church concealed in a bag each time he'd go. I was inspired by his enthusiasm and simplistic child-like faith. Although I had been a Christian for a few decades, I realized that my faith had become rather stale.
Just two months after we had met in person I was baptized in the river on Saint John's Island. How fitting of a name for the place! Alex wanted this day to be so special that he invited some church friends. Two ladies who were originally from the Congo of Africa accompanied us. One lady named Armalee wanted to be baptized too. She said that she had seen in a vision years prior that she would meet a white man who looked like Alex wearing a white shirt baptizing her.
Alex walked me to a point in the river where the currents met creating a delta or a v-shape, and prayed fervently with his hands in the air. As he prayed suddenly the wind gushed blowing so hard it stirred the waters. Then after he dunked me in the water and I came up, the waters were still. Then we stood with our hands in the air praying once again.
We had one of the nicest romantic summers you can imagine. My "fairy tale summer" you could call it. But by the time fall came you could see horrible oppression had started. He would tell me that in the fall he always had a hard time, especially during the month of October.
Alex gave me a CD copy of the 1985 movie "Legend", and told me that he was like one of the characters in this movie, but he was not going to tell me which one. I later watched the movie and was bewildered. He then told me to just destroy the CD and to forget about it. Later on I figured out which character he was and what he meant by the symbolism in the movie as it applied to his life.
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