Vistas opening

I just re-read my last post and am amazed at how I'm changing in subtle and maybe not so subtle ways.
C is out of the picture. Apparently I didn't click with him anymore than he clicked with me. LOL Good thing.
R has been to visit. Sis and BIL were here to see the baby and we all spent time together. It was very good. Everyone was comfortable with each other.
R is more like me in attitude and temperament than JD was. But he is like JD in all the important things. He DOES stuff. He builds, he volunteers, he lives his life. He is involved in living. And he has plans. You can talk to him. And, this is VITAL, he does NOT agree with me on everything, thank heaven. How boring that would be! It also seems his style of living isn't too different from mine at all.
R and I have talked on the phone and the plans for my birthday party on the 11th are proceeding. Unlikely we'll see each other before then. The 300+ miles between our homes is significant but not overwhelming. For now I think we'll mostly "meet in the middle".
Where ever this takes us I'm very happy right now. I loved JD with all my heart and would never have looked at another man nor even thought I could ever be happy without JD. But time and the fact that there is no going back has let me realize that everything wasn't perfect. It was very, very good for sure. And it would have been enough if he had lived. But he did not. And his loss still hurts but not as it did only a few weeks ago.
I find myself looking forward more now and back less. Whatever happens with R I will forever owe him a huge debt of gratitude for being who he is. And for showing me I can feel for someone.
Will we be always a traveling relationship or something else? I have no idea. We're too new. Will we develop into something more than really good friends? Again, I don't know. I only know that now I am open to the possibilities.
He's a good man. Will he be "my" man? Time will tell.
What I know now is I'm going to enjoy every email, every phone conversation, all the "getting to know you's". And I feel more alive than I have since "the day".