Should I Hope & Wait?

by Ilah
(Los Angeles, CA)

I met this guy thru online dating almost a month ago. We started chatting and texting all the time. We had this amazing connection that I never felt with anybody before. We started dating the following week - one week of pure joy. He is wonderful, caring, smart and reliable. We came from very different backgrounds but we just clicked.

Then on the first night he stayed over he told me that he is a recovering alcoholic. He had only been sober for 4 months and that his AA sponsor told him that he must not date within one year of sobriety due to the high risk of relapsing. He told me that we should just see each other spontaneously and not the daily meeting that we were having. The whole night, he cried his heart out telling me how he's not normal and how he disappointed his family due to his alcoholism.

We separated in good spirits though, because now everything was out in the open. The next week,we still communicated, although not as often. He said he was doing a lot with AA. One night, I asked him to go to the movies but he declined. I told him that I miss him so much.

I bought him a Valentine's card and realized I didn't have his address, so I texted him to ask for it. He answered that he whad been directed to completely focus on his recovery and that it will be best if we would not have any relations at all. He said he knew that I'm compassionate and would understand.

I was heartbroken and emailed him that I thought it was unfair but I would respect his decision and wished him success in his recovery. I haven't heard from him since.

Should I hope and wait for him to come back? He never asked me to wait though. I felt like our story hasn't ended but just been interrupted.

What should I do?