Adil and I met in Istanbul in May 2005. He was my waiter and kept the table entertained with jokes and logic puzzles he created with the loose toothpicks at hand. The next day I started my tour of this fascinating and beautiful country and returned to Istanbul two weeks later. I decided to dine at Adil’s restaurant. He remembered my name and wanted to know about my trip. We ended up agreeing to meet for a drink later that night, my last night in Turkey. It was an incredible evening and one I did not want to end. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and said our goodbyes with great reluctance.

When I returned back to the U.S., I couldn’t get him out of my mind. A week went by and I received a long distances phone call. It was Adil asking me when I was coming back to Istanbul. I decided I didn’t want any “what ifs” in my life and decided I would go back within the next two weeks to see him (of course it didn’t hurt that he was living in one of the most amazing cities in the world).

Since that impulsive and brave decision to fly 6,000 miles to see someone I had only spent one incredible evening with, I have returned six more times. Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending. On my last trip this summer we discussed the future. He felt he was too old to start a new life in the U.S. and that I couldn’t move to Turkey because my parents were very august (his word for old) and needed me close by. We decided if we are both not married to someone else in 20 years, we will get married then and live in Turkey. So perhaps my story does not have such an unhappy ending….I just need to wait 20 years to see.