5 years and waiting

They broke up about the same time Liz and I did.

She told him she couldn't go through with it about a week before the wedding.

It was painful watching him deal (and not deal) with it in front of friends and coworkers ... it was hard to see him in my office with tears in his eyes trying to wrap his head around it.

He went to counseling and it seemed to help. He eventually started dating again and learned to let her back into his life from time-to-time. We shared our frustrations over countless numbers of beers and closed-door counseling sessions in my office.

She was doing what Liz was doing to me. Come here, go away, come here, go away. We shared ways to cope with the heartache, bragged about who we were dating, sure that we both had moved past the breakup.

And then we reached this conclusion at about the same time ... or least vocalized it at the same time: we would always be in love with our exes.

He gave me a lot of support when Liz and I started dating again. He told me that they were starting to date again, too. And he asked me to keep it to myself. And I did.

Liz and I didn't make it but they continued, taking small steps forward and sometimes one or two back. But they continued. And continued.

He pulled me into his office last week and, with a smile and tears glistening in his eyes (and mine), told me they were getting married in the fall. Probably not a big wedding and maybe just the two of them.

Dreams do come true.