Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Maybe you realized this truism just three days ago when you cuddled up with a loved one who studies far away, but who managed to come and celebrate the day for lovers. Maybe you only spoke on the phone but felt reassured in your emotions upon putting the receiver back on its hook. Maybe all it took was a thought -- a remembrance of your distant love that got you through the day miles away from your love.
For some entangled duos, the college-type love story must end there temporarily as you and your love are forced to part and go your separate ways, but still other lovers used Valentine's Day as a springboard back into a world of passionate fury.
Like the NBA. It took Dennis Rodman 10 months of sowing his wild oats before he could return to the stability of a relationship with the NBA, and most importantly, its referees.
Sure, they missed each other while they were apart. But, they both had their own lives to take care of. Rodman dressed extravagantly and couldn't come back sooner because of the parties at the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl. Meanwhile, the referees have concerned themselves with Allen Iverson's cupped palms and Patrick Ewing's five-step sweeping hook.
But true lovers cannot live apart for that long. And while Rodman's first game was a sort of second honeymoon in which the referees and the rebounding king coexisted beautifully, all it took was a second rendezvous and all of the wonderfulness the starstruck couple had remembered, came shattering down on the hardwood of reality.
Rodman pulled down 16 rebounds -- a Dallas season high -- in just over three quarters of action and managed to add six points and four assists to the Mavericks' cause. But he looked disheartened and frustrated at his inability to communicate with his striped sweethearts. Why won't they just listen? It's always about them,Dennis thinks as he retreats to the Dallas locker room after he has essentially been kicked out of his own house in the fourth quarter.
"Nothing has changed," Rodman said on his way out, as if only now could he remember the scorn that he felt just 10 months ago.
Two of the referees, Ken Mauer and David Jones, tossed Rodman after he pleaded for an illegal defense call against the Milwaukee Bucks and upon not receiving it, plopped himself down on the floor to further protest.
And while the Mavericks are 0-2 with Rodmania in the Big D, the referees and Dennis seem forever intertwined in a love-hate relationship that even the best of marriage counselors could not extricate. But, if one tried, one could certainly sense a relationship-like pattern.
He's done the wrong thing over 2,800 times (personal fouls), which is probably not that bad for a decade-long relationship. He has said the wrong thing exactly 213 times (technicals), which when you think about it is pretty good. He has been forced out of the house 21 times (ejections) and told not to come back 11 more (suspensions).
If this relationship causes so much pain, a trusting friend might ask why they are still together.
Just like habits, old flames die hard. Or sometimes not at all.
