I started a puzzle a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun, considering I haven’t purchased a puzzle since 1997. It was a true-to-size poster for the film Titanic. Not only that, but it came with three additional puzzles, as well. They were screen-caps from the movie. Yes, if you need to ask, my love for Titanic was strong. If you’re wondering why I haven’t bought another puzzle since then, it’s because they’re an absolutely pain.

At first, you think it will be great. It’ll give your mind some exercise. You can’t wait to start. Then, you open the box and see one-thousand itty-bitty pieces of cardboard all mixed up and out of order. Your face falls. This is the hard part.

You begin separating them one by one, color by color, saving the edge pieces for last. They deserve their own, separate pile. That’s two nights of your life wasted.

Yay, at last! You’re ready to assemble. You think it’ll be simple. That goes there and this goes here. Nope! You have it all backwards. They were in the wrong spot. You’re ready to give up.

Suddenly, it happens. The pieces start to fit together. It all makes sense now. The border is almost complete. . . but you’re missing one piece. You search and search, but it’s no where to be found. It’s disappeared. ARGH!

You’re almost a month in to this project and you haven’t gotten very far. You’re telling strangers about how much you hate puzzles. Then, one night, as you’re walking by, a perfectly placed puzzle piece jumps up at you. It gives you a wink. “Hey,” you think. “That looks familiar.” It’s not the missing piece you’re looking for, but you think you know where this one goes. You’ve seen something similar before. Yes! Yes! It fits!

You get sucked into it again. You continue to chase that high, the one where you think you know how the puzzle is supposed to go. But it ends, quick. You’re stuck, again. The cycle repeats.

Eventually, and oh so slowly, everything starts to come together. You say, “This is kind of fun, after all.”

It might take you forever, but someday, somehow, this puzzle will be complete, Oh, yes. It will be complete.

See you tomorrow!

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