Folks drinking coffee in a cafe on a fresh morning
Surrounded by red cushions that adorn bright white walls
Looking stylish

Café time

Music playing with a loud hypnotic beat in the background
Large TVs on setting the tone
Tables set with clear dark red glasses

Café time

Professional waiters moving to and fro
People sitting outside under big  red umbrellas offering welcomed shade as needed
The start to another day in the city

Café time

When you left that night forever part of me died
You were my bright North Star
You glimmered like diamonds
Without you I wasn’t grounded
I had no center
My heart was weeping from the loss

My spirit was trapped in total darkness
I felt like I was slipping away
Lost without an anchor
Like a ship without a port
I was unable to find my way home
Everything was upside down and backwards

I had lost my bright North Star

I have driven the highways and byways of LA, Seattle, Phoenix, Houston and Minneapolis
Crossed the mountains twice

Looped through Chicago and Washington DC
All to help bring me to my next chapter of life

I have driven up and down California, north to Seattle and across the country twice
All to bring me home

This time, there are no roads to take me there
Instead my travel will be by air, across the sea thousands of miles  from where I started

At the end, I will be where I am supposed to be after all these years

Destiny has finally brought me

Home

Every day we offer slices of ourselves to the world

Some are quiet and subdued
Some are sweet
Some are loud and boisterous
Some are fun
Some are ****, almost sour
Some are thoughtful and serious

Slices

Some are filled with darkness and heaviness
Others are bursting with bright light and hope
Some are kind and loving and others are not
Some are lonely
Others are filled with celebration of life

Slices

But every slice is a part of us
And together they help to make up what is us

Slices

Slowly, quietly, a dark enemy was approaching which would propel us into something neither of us truly wanted. I don’t think anyone intentionally falls into an abyss, where there is only darkness and no light, but we did.

It felt like a black hole of nothingness. He was disappearing, bit by bit. It was as if he was slipping into quicksand and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was devastating. I felt helpless and alone.

Something serendipitous happened --  I looked up at this young man who looked like a real prince to me and fell for him, head over heels.
All sorts of emotions were welling up in me all at the same time.
Things I had never really felt before, and only read about.

Somehow he had grabbed my heart and pulled it into his. He became part of the fabric of my entire being. He was as important to me as the air I breathed. It was as if I had jumped over a cliff emotionally into something so wonderful it was indescribable. I felt as if I could walk on air or fly. My heart had been given wings.

It has been said, that it only takes a moment, and in this case, that was surely true. From that moment on, from that dance on, we became high school sweethearts and were inseparable.

Magic can happen if one believes. It’s waiting for you.

The sand on the beach was light pink in color and was fine to the touch
The water at times was a brilliant turquoise blue

The beach was lined with large umbrellas stuck in the sand at an angle
They were numerous colors and some were multi colored
They painted the beach as a work of art

People were sitting under them watching the waves through their sunglasses or basked in the sun seeking the perfect tan

The waves pounded the shore breaking with luminous white foam as they reached the shore

The air was warm but not hot with a slight breeze soothing to the skin
A hint of salt wafted through with each breeze which was refreshing

It was another hypnotic day at the beach