I love period dramas. I just do.

It’s not just that I find this era of online dating or 5-minute speed dating sessions unromantic or excessively droll. I do, but there is more to my disgruntled views on the subject. I’ve been lead to expect more.

I love watching a costumed performance with butterflies in my stomach as I wonder how they will resolve things. I still watch and rewatch anxiously every time. Yes, I know how it ends, but on pins and needles, I watch again wondering how it will turn out this time. Will Captain Wentworth tell Anne Elliot how he still cares for her? Will Margaret Hale finally admit that despite all appearances she loves Mr. Thornton and admires him above any other? For some reason, the magic still exists upon a 2nd, a 5th, a 100th viewing.

I love immersing myself into a delicious period novel. I bury myself deep into another world and discover that there is more to love than instant chemistry or an insatiable desire. I’ve learned that sometimes love is unrequited and that it doesn’t have to be reciprocated to be worthwhile. I’ve noted that love is patient and kind and wants the best for the other even if it isn’t the fairytale ending of dreams.

And that's what I'm looking for...something more. I know the truth is that movies and books can’t top real life. A good book can’t replace the drama, the nerves, the highs, the lows, the joys and passions of living life for real. I know that. But see, I’ve witnessed real love in those around me. I’ve watched friends grow in love and blossom into a couple. I’ve observed apparent opposites struggle in vain until they realized that together they completed the other. I’ve admired several patient men who have waited and waited for the woman they love. I’ve cried with girlfriends who thought they would die of broken hearts only to meet another and find out what true love is. Yes, true life trumps the storybook ending every time in my book.

And so I’ll wait to see how my story progresses! And yes, I did say how my story progresses...I’m not waiting on another to get my story started. Goodness! I’m a third or half way through my story already, and that’s just if GOD sees fit to keep me here! Who knows what the next chapter holds! It may not win me an Oscar for the drama or a Pulitzer for the storyline, but it’s my part of the story. It’s real, full of surprises, and totally unexpected some days. And that’s just the way I like it!