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A History of Blood – Vol. 4, Chapter 28.5

A brief summary of some recent changes to my personal life, how these changes have impacted my career, and what that means for this blog moving forward.

Volume 1 of this blog was an affirmation of my Jewish identity, in a turbulent time of my life. It covered the last few months I lived in Baltimore, Maryland, and centered heavily on my career as an insurance agent.

Volume 2 detailed my move to Tampa, Florida, and centered more on the work I did as a Priest, while continuing to work as an insurance agent, experimenting more with the health insurance side of things, while going deeper into life insurance and annuities.

Volume 3 centered on my partnership with a local marketing firm called Link Management, and detailed some of the different projects I’ve worked on since starting there. There are quite a few other insurance agents who work with Link Management so overall it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

Volume 4 originally just continued that narrative, but sometime during the process of writing Volume 4, I fell madly in love with a woman whom I happened to work with.

Our relationship started innocuously on the day that she walked into our office. The first thing that caught my attention was that she was both dressed and carried herself extremely well, to the point I just assumed she had a lot of experience in the industry, similar to myself. She didn’t smile, so I didn’t say anything to her, and since she was on someone else’s team I had no obligation to approach her. She closed her first deal on her first day which I certainly took note of.

A few days later, I got to talk to her for the first time when our team went out to lunch, and I found out she was actually really funny. For some reason, she was lying about her background and experience but I didn’t question it too much. Then, something strange happened when we worked together for the first time.

We pitched a few businesses together and closed a few deals and after that, she asked if we could take a break. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but she somewhat randomly opened up to me. She told me about her past, her goals, and her struggles, in a way that inspired me to embrace her, but since I felt that would be inappropriate, I instead captured the way I felt into a letter.

I didn’t want to give her the letter at first, but after spending more time together, and sending her the notes above, I worked up the courage to give her the letter and tell her how she made me feel.

Since then, I’ve told her how I feel in person while continuing to write her letters, notes, and make her the occasional drawing. I’ve gifted her clothing, jewelry, flowers, and as much food as I could afford, although haven’t done a good job at making sure the food is as nutritious as it should be.

Our relationship isn’t perfect but it works. We have a lot in common, but we are still different in dramatic ways. We get into heated arguments more often than I’d like, but we always speak the truth, reconcile, and are always better for it. Our relationship is the perfect balance between peace and passion, a healthy mix of fear and love.

What I love the most about it is the way that it challenges me. She pushes me to improve my communication skills, my financial wellbeing, and my social standing, without being too materialistic. She recognizes that things are nice but they are ultimately just things. She understands that the thought actually counts.

She pushes me to improve my administrative skills, to physically be stronger, to build a better and more effective team, to follow up on all my deals, to get more excited about entrepreneurship, to get more excited about starting a family, and to get more excited about having a family business.