Whether the relationship is business, personal, social, organizational, or political, man's history has given ample evidence getting along is a challenge of enormous difficulty. Cain killed Abel and smugly asked if he was his brother's keeper. In 2020 President Donald Trump was in an ongoing battle with the news media. Clergy have come under fire for abuse of power and malfeasance from the pulpit in religious circles. Men and women appear to be involved in a gender war, as roles once considered traditional and normal are being challenged, flipped, and redefined. Rodney King once sheepishly asked, "Can we all just get along?" The profundity of his lament resonates today more than ever. People are not getting along, and no greater example exists than romantic relationships. This book will explore relationships with a slightly different twist to the commentary. As you read this book, consider three dimensions: my voice, society's voice, and your voice or the voice inside your head, as we explore my poetic response to the questions "Why This Book?" and "Can we all just get along?"

"Boy meets girl" is not so simple in the twenty-first century. Many factors contribute to the complexity of relationships, including the advancement of technology, the fluidity and transformation of values in America as Eastern and Western values blend, and the evolution of gender identities and roles in modern society. This book does not delve into the complexities of the micro issues, but rather, it attempts to use the "boy meets girl" dynamic to explain relationships of any kind that must address the same core concerns: how to meet, what's done when you meet, how to progress to the next level, commit, and make the relationship everlasting. Love is part of the equation, but this is not exclusively a book about love. It may take you there, but you may not stay. This book is as much about your journey as it is mine.

Many years ago, I thought I would be the boy who'd meet the girl, court the girl, marry the girl, and live happily ever after.

Happily ever after didn't happen, but this book did.

I hope you find perspective in this book as I have found wisdom through the experiences. Most of all, I hope you find and listen to the voice inside your head as I have discovered the voice inside mine.