Fifty-five-year-old Sophia was settling into her new life. Two months earlier, she had sold her house and everything in it, said goodbye to her adult children, and drove down to Florida to live in a beach town.

How life had changed. The ending of a 24-year marriage, the pursuit of a PhD in depth psychology, and getting her two children off to college.

Mourning closure of one part of her life had eventually made room for the excitement of a new adventure. Getting swept up in a soulmate relationship with Phillip, a younger man – 17 years younger! – had brought her into closer relationship with her body, sexuality and even God.

No sooner had she started relaxing into her new modest lifestyle, then memories of another man – Jason – erupted from her unconscious. Sophia began to see his likeness everywhere, the man with whom she had a brief encounter following the dramatic ending of the intense soulmate relationship.

She had been enjoying a needed respite from the intensity of a journey that felt more like a dramatic Netflix series. The twinge Sophia felt in her body during a casual conversation with Jason seemed like the start to another transformative experience.

Sigh. Timing is everything, and alas, it was not meant to be – at least not then, nor on Sophia's terms.

Then . . . The familiar voice came from the man seated at the other end of the bar. "Stop!" Sophia told herself. She had been duped many times before by her over-active imagination.

Attraction is mysterious for sure. Its absence during times of desire is a reflection perhaps of the truth that sexual attraction is like a gift of grace with an agenda and timeline all its own.

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