The last two lines of a poem –

It was December 1979 and I was still stationed at the Naval School of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. My wife was on her way driving up I-95 from Florida to visit. Our time had come and gone for her visit. We had a great-time on many levels. There had been snow on the ground and we had taken in many of the sites D.C. had to offer during to few short days. 

Now, I was in my barracks room feeling just a little nostalgic for more time with her. Obviously, this was long before the cell phone era when I can, as I do now, reach out to hear her voice when I am away. In that nostalgia moment late at night I took pen to paper and drafted a poem entitled – This Wonderful Woman ? (1979).   Later, I would ask an artist friend to render a drawing of photo snapped on Pensacola beach and place the poem with that rendering. The picture is visible through the door of my home office allowing me to think about times long past, but still fresh in the recesses of my mind.

It is the last two lines of that poem to a woman who has, over the last 40-years pushed me, loved me and never allowed me the luxury of excuses that I share this snippet from a poet-warrior’s heart:

“…Rare art as are rare people mean more to us when we know their beauty and cannot possess it.  But, have some small amount of time to touch it or gaze up it for an instant. When any person is so lucky to have such a treasure they should pray – Thanks, for such a gift!”

How often in the rush of life do we take real time to offer thanks for the opportunities to receive the gifts we have been provided in grace.  For each reader of this post, thank you for allowing me to share!