We've been blessed.

A night of dreams and wonder makes hearts, the unseen things ponder.

Ethereal voices to open hearts speak, young souls listen as they seek.

Into one such night let us take a peek.

Twas a midsummer night as a brown-haired lad and a lass with golden tresses, walked the woods near each of their homes. The air was clear, charged with magic, and the sky was full of heavenly lights. It was hard to tell where the earth stopped and the heavens started. But for the trees, which rooted the imagination to the ground, all would be blended into a mass of shadows and twinkling lights. A night of mystery, tinted with premonition.

His home on one side of the sea, hers the other. Each one walking beneath their country sky. Two places, one sky. Two hearts, one wonder to behold eight short hours apart.

Slowly all the lights grew dim as the sky above the lass filled with the brilliance of a rising full Moon. As the glowing orb rose above the earth, a face within the light appeared. A pair of charcoal eyes opened with a blink and a cheery voice said, "hello".

Leaning on a sturdy branch, up in her favorite tree, the young girl warily looked up into a smiling face and replied with a hesitant, "hi".

And then the Man in the Moon began to speak. " O lassie young and fair, to you I have a message to share. Someday to a far off land you'll go. Young children are to be placed into your care, but that's not all that will happen while you are there. In this land you will meet a young man whose life you will share. On one distant night your hearts will become one as into his eyes you stare." With that the eyes did close and with a knowing smile the Man in the Moon did set. But the message she heard she would never forget.

Slowly all the lights grew dim as the sky above the lad filled with the brilliance of a rising full Moon. As the glowing orb rose above the earth, a face within the light appeared. A pair of charcoal eyes opened with a blink and a cheery voice said, "hello".

Sitting on a sturdy branch, part way up his favorite tree, the young boy curiously looked up into a smiling face and shot back a rather shaky, "hi".

And then the Man in the Moon began to speak. "My young friend, to you I have a message to share. Some day a young lass will travel to this land. Her love and yours will be bound with a marriage band. She will light up your life as the sun does me and that glow will illumine the hearts of others as from you both it does flow.

With that the eyes did close and with a knowing smile the Man in the Moon did set. But the message he heard he would never forget.

A night of dreams and wonder makes hearts, the unseen things ponder.

Ethereal voices to open hearts speak, young souls listen as they seek.

Into another such night let us take a peek.

On the horizon the Moon started to rise as a young man with brown hair and a young woman with golden tresses, went for a walk. The air was clear, charged with magic, and the sky was full of heavenly lights. It was hard to tell where the earth stopped and the heavens started. A night of mystery, tinted with recognition. As each approached, they paid each other no heed, two strangers in a stranger place. Not far apart, each turned, side by side, to face the rising Moon. Each was lost in thoughts and dreams of days gone by. Slowly all the other lights grew dim as the sky filled with the brilliance of a full Moon. As the glowing orb rose above the earth, a face within the light appeared. A pair of charcoal eyes opened with a blink and a cheery, familiar voice said, "hello".

With resting arms on a fieldstone wall, two sets of eyes, remembering a similar night, looked up and a simultaneous reply was heard, "hi". Startled at the sound of the other's voice, two pairs of eyes turned and met and locked.

And then the Man in the Moon began to speak. "You both remember the night you talked with the Man in the Moon, this night as you look into each other's eyes, your memories and lives are becoming one".

With that the eyes did close and with a knowing smile the Man in the Moon did set. But a journey together just began for two not so unfamiliar strangers, who just met.

This wonderful story was written by a dear friend of ours, Don Hartle, and truly captures the love that Nadine and I share. It is a union made in heaven and we thank God most of all for the love that we share. Our love for one another continues grow as we grow old together.

God Bless, James