Only 12 Seconds

As I fell asleep last night, the pictures of when I first met Erica on my first day in Bible School + her last video surveillance sighting from the day she disappeared somehow came together as one:

Only 12 seconds is all that it took
For you to walk into my life.
You entered stage right
An uncertain reflection in my side-view mirror; 
I focused, you drew me closer:
The unknown became visibly real.
A strong young woman with presence in her eyes and purpose in her step,
There was no turning in you.
Your spirit strode confident, Bible in hand,
one step ahead of another
And never lost a beat.
I saw you then, you drew alongside, passed me by
And continued down the street.
There’s one who knows where she’s going, I said to myself
And watched you cross my path and disappear.
I got up, followed and again there you were,
The first one I met...
Up the steps
I pulled the handle, you pushed from within,
And the door flung open to our future:
You welcomed me in
And we shared a lifetime’s embrace.

34 years later
And your scene again takes only 12 seconds:
Again you enter from my right hand side:
Your manner is similar
The purse even yours
The walk more measured
And my heart leaps, ‘It’s you!’
I reach out to touch you, to draw you
Out of that grey video, close to my heart again
But the image won’t release your substance.
You walk on, a car speeds past,
You exit left
And now I wait for you to reappear
In our picture together
In His Time.