And yet what happiness we have is blighted once again by storms, brought on by circumstance. The changes would fling me into the depths of such dark despair, I've wondered if I could survive. He seems to think we shall.

As Arnold Bennett said:

"Any change, even a change for the better, is
always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."

I'd draw my courage from the memories we have ~ moments so beautiful which we cherish so deeply. Moments so real, it seems like only yesterday he held me close, enfolding in the warmth of his love.  They are my sustenance and his as we go through "the storms of life".

And in this dark unknown, I look into my heart and take comfort in seeing the dreams and hopes that glow within. For did not Henry David Thoreau say:

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us
are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."

I dedicate this book to

Joe and myself ~ to us
and to the Love we found in each other, for each other.

Whatever the outcome, whatever is in store for us, my love for Joe will not be mute. My words, my verse, as well as, my heart and my love belong to him eternally.

"You will find as you look back upon your life
that the moments when you have truly lived
are the moments when you have done things
in the spirit of love."
~ Henry Drummond ~