. . . I had been worrying about my relationship with Steve and if we would continue to be together. . . . I really thought I had met someone with whom I could spend my life, but now I was in the middle of this upheaval in my own life and didn’t know exactly what was going on. Everything I had known before was changing, so I understood that Steve would not know what to expect from me in the future. He could not possibly know if my evolving spiritual expression would be a life he would want to share with me.

When I returned home from Colorado, the relationship question weighed heavily on my mind. On the evening that I got back, Steve and I were sitting on the couch together, watching television. There was tension in the air; both of us had things on our minds that we wanted to share, but neither of us was talking. I started to wonder how I would feel if Steve were to break up with me. I envisioned the scenario in my head—his telling me that it was over; my being devastated, going to church, kneeling in the pews, and crying and praying because I was upset, even though I knew that was what God must have wanted. But just as this disturbing thought ran through my mind, I heard a noise that startled me. There was a scraping sound and a then a thump. I had been resting my head on Steve’s shoulder, but when I heard the noise I immediately sat up. I looked over at the radiator cover, where I’d placed a picture of Steve and me, but the picture wasn’t there. I stretched over the edge of the couch and saw that it was laying on the carpet, picture-side down. I looked at Steve and asked, “Did what I think just happened actually happen?”

Steve looked at me and nodded.

 “Did you see it happen?” I asked.

He nodded again, saying, “It looked as though someone swiped the back of the picture frame and knock- ed it off the radiator, onto the floor.”

I immediately knew that this was a sign for us, a calling for us to talk. We shut off the television and shared our feelings about our relationship—that it was strained and that it was a very difficult time for both of us. Steve hit on my worst fear; he said he’d been thinking about dating other people. It broke my heart, but under- neath I knew if it was meant to be, it would be.

Framed photo of Steve and me that was knocked over.