Sergei Kourdakov, a former KGB agent and Soviet naval intelligence officer, defected from the USSR at the age of twenty. A year later we met at my Federal Government office in Washington DC. We were watched and followed. “Even you could be spy,” Sergei whispered. My book, A Rose for Sergei, is the true story of our time together.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

An Imperfect Heart


When I see heart-shaped necklaces that are perfectly symmetrical, I think the jeweler got it wrong.  It wouldn’t make any difference to me if the necklace was covered with huge, sparkly diamonds.  It still would have no appeal to me.  Those perfect heart-shaped necklaces are unrealistic because life isn’t perfect.

I was fifteen when I had my first high school crush.  He was cute, fun, and interesting.  I think I actually floated on air after his first kiss.  Things were going great, until he showed up at school one day holding hands with another girl.  A piece of my heart broke that day but I held my head up high and moved on.  There never was an explanation.  We avoided each other for the next two years.  And it wasn’t until our high school’s 25th reunion that he apologized for his rude treatment.

When I was eighteen I was the one who broke a boy’s heart.  We dated our Senior year of high school and into his first year of college.  I felt that I was too young to tie myself down.  I was working for the Federal Government and there was a lot going on in my life.  It wasn’t him, it really was me.  A piece of my heart broke because I knew the pain I caused him.

When I was nineteen and working at the Pentagon I thought I met “the one.”  The young Army officer seemed to have it all.  Until I found out that I was the one who made him question if his on/off girlfriend was the right one for him.  After a short time he proposed…to the other girl.  He was the right one, just not my right one.  Another piece of my heart chipped away once more.

When I was twenty-one I met Sergei Kourdakov at my office.  He was unlike anyone I had ever met.  The attraction between us was immediate, we both felt it.  Dating a Russian defector was definitely adventurous.  We laughed all of the time and enjoyed every minute we spent together.  When he died it felt like my heart had broken into a million pieces.

Hearts break…pieces are chipped away, and hearts fall apart every day.  Over the years, I learned to pick up the pieces of my heart and gather them together.  Those pieces are life lessons.  We heal; we move on and learn to love again.

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Kindle Countdown Deal

An Amazon promotional deal for the eBook version of
A Rose for Sergei will be held on the following dates.

Take advantage of this $1.99 (half-price) offer!

Start date:  November 8, 2014 at 8:00 a.m.
End date:  November 11, 2014 at midnight

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Paperback Version Coming Soon!


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