Love vs. Life?

Another post prompted by Chad - would I choose to meet my soul mate knowing he would die in 5 years or not and avoid the pain of the loss? I'd leave a comment over at UP but this is going to be a bit long, so you, my loyal readers, get my answer instead.

If by meeting him I would somehow cause him to die in 5 years the answer would be no. Like one commenter, the guilt of causing someone's death wouldn't be worth it for me. If we assume that my special someone is doomed anyway then...

Short answer: I don't know.

Long answer: The whole "loved and lost" thing is an iffy proposition for me. I've been there and I'm not sure it was worth it. You may quibble about the ability of college students to really be in love and protest that he obviously wasn't my soul-mate since it didn't work out, but he was the best friend I've ever had and the only man I've been in love with. I often think that not knowing what it was like to be in love would be better than knowing it's been taken away. I'm terrified of being rejected like that again. I don't think I could construe dying as a judgment on my worthiness as a life partner, so that part of the loss wouldn't be there. But knowing how good it was and missing all of that would still be there. I'm not sure it'd be worth it.