A Soul Mate Story

A Soul Mate Story

by Brigid Bishop

At the beginning of 8th grade I met a boy named Bobby.  We decided we were going to be a “couple” and embarked happily on a puppy love excursion.

We rode bikes together, played basketball and tag football, wrestled and played literally like two puppies!

We were very happy throughout the 8th grade, where we both turned from 13 to the ripe old age of 14.

Bobby’s parents were divorced.  We lived in PA and his Dad lived in Maine, quite a distance away.

Every summer Bobby went to Maine to spend time with his Dad, we prepared for this imminent separation as best we could at our ages, and then a SHOCKER hit us.

Bobby’s Mom told him that he (and not his older sister or younger brother) was going to remain permanently in Maine and not return for the beginning of the next school term when we started high school!!!  It was my first broken heart and God, I can still feel the pain.

Back then, circa 1976, kids were not allowed access to their parents’ long distance services, so there would be no phone calls, the only way for us to maintain any kind of communication was by snail mail…..so………

All through the summer, and ninth grade, and the following summer, and tenth grade, we communicated via snail mail, professing our love for each other, etc. etc. etc.

Now, here is the bad part….during this time I was a blossoming teenage girl, 14, 15 and nearly 16…….and of course I told Bobby “I was waiting for him”.  What I didn’t tell him was that while I was “waiting” I was dating many other boys and kind of began going steady at the age of fifteen with a nineteen year old.  Bobby didn’t know about the 19 year old and the 19 year old didn’ know about Bobby.

I was a pretty good looking teenager and several boys my own age took offense at my choice.  One, in particular, named Fran, who was supposed to by my friend, was ticked off because I chose the older boy instead of him.

Bobby came home during the summer of 1978 for a “surprise” visit.  Fran knew.  I didn’t.  Fran walked Bobby straight out to the beer barrell party I was at with the older boy (I was 16 by now) and said……”See, I told you she was cheating on you”.  

Caught like a rat in a trap, Bobby was crushed.  He ran down the coal road in tears, and I chased him, but I couldn’t catch him.  He wouldn’t take my calls, nothing.  I would have dumped that older guy on the spot if I had known Bobby would ever come back.

Anyway, Bobby’s Mom brought him back for eleventh grade, to my school.  He was hurt and withdrawn and there was no way for me to get him to let me in again just yet.  I tried, but he was too hurt.

In twelfth grade we briefly tried again, but I just wasn’t ready to date a younger guy again for fear his mother would yank him away again.  (I never dated a guy my own age again after Bobby got sent away, always over 18 so the parents couldn’t interfere).

We graduated in 1980 and went our separate ways.  I thought of him often over the years, of how things could have been if Mom hadn’t sent him off to Bangor.  I married, divorced, had relationships, some steady, some flings, then I met Frank in 1997………a VERY complicated soul mate story, but anyway, one night in June of 2000………

Yes, June of 2000, a Sunday night, I had a bad cold and was taking that daytime cold medicine that makes you feel like you are on speed, and I was aggressively cleaning my kitchen in my usual summer garb, a white T shirt and my Levi’s jeans and a pair of white keds with a bandana around my head, and there is a knock on my door………

I answer it and there is a tall man with blonde hair and a beard standing there…….

I immediately feel like I know him………it takes a moment, and he says “Bridget”………..I screamed out “Bobby!!!!” and threw myself into his arms!!!

I was in shock, it was about 10:30 at night, I looked a mess, and here was my very first soul mate on my front porch after 24 years of being apart.

I was involved with Frank at the time, and I was very confused as to what this was going to do, I felt like it was a repeat of the summer of 1978!!!

We spent the next full week together, catching up, opening up, sharing what could-have-been’s and what might-have-beens……..revisiting our old playgrounds where Bobby said we should have raised our kids………..I never told Frank about any of this, at the time it was easy to steal the time.

Anyway, what was happening was Bobby was getting divorced.  He told me that he had never stopped loving me, (same here), and that he had to come to Pennsylvania (He lived in Maine for all of his adult life) to see if I was “available”.  The kicker here is we both married partners 12 years our senior, he had 2 girls, I had 2 boys.  My oldest son and his younger daughter were born on 5/29, 2 years apart, and his oldest daughter and my younger son were both born on 7/28, 2 years apart!!!!  

We married ON THE SAME DAY OF THE SAME YEAR!!!!

Too many coincidences to place.

I told him about Frank…….he understood……we let go of each other that year as “this time around” we just weren’t meant to be together.

We had a few phone calls, letters and cards for about 2 years after that, but the contact dropped again in 2002 as we got on with the business of living our “parallel lives”, but we had our closure…….it just wasn’t meant to be this time.

I firmly believe he is my soul mate, we just have to wait for another lifetime to manifest it to the fullest.

Important Note I forgot to mention:  When Bobby came to see me in 2000 he shared with me that his mother had died and that on her DEATH bed he asked her why did she send him away like that???  She told him that she thought we were getting TOO CLOSE, and did it for our own good, as she saw how much in love we were and thought we were too young!  Bobby told me he had a hard time forgiving her as both of our lives may have been entirely DIFFERENT had she not made this decision.