For Judy, because I promised her . . .

. . . a story.

When I think about moments in my life that matter, I think about teachers who challenged me & about friends who challenged me & about filtered memories of crucial moments in my past . . .

And I think of your husband.

None of us understand the force of what we say – none of us understand that sometimes just a word, a smile can save a soul.

Wonderful  and  wonderstruck things happened to me when my parents uprooted us from the comfort of the Franklin Mountains to the reclaimed swamp of Houston.

I found myself out of my comfort zone.  Would the rain never cease &  would I ever be able to breathe without feeling like I was drowning?  Why was it so green?  Was mildew growing in my shoes?  Why was it so flat?  Where were the mountains?

It was a weird world, this place my parents took me.

The curriculum was different & I ended up in a World History class, which was a Junior level class in El Paso but was a Sophomore level class at Dulles.

And I found myself sitting at the back of the class with a guy named Glen (we all know how that went ;-) & a very tall, lanky blonde named Troy.

A very tall & lanky blonde who one day told me that We was here, not back in El Paso.

One never knows how much a little comment, We means here changes an outlook, changes a life.

Just a moment, so long ago.  When I stopped grieving over the loss of sunrise & sunset on the mountains & embraced what was here.

Troy gave me that.  And I had a wonderful, wonder filled, wonderstruck time.

Tell him thank you.

Love