My parents had dear friends that I called Aunt and Uncle.
Though they were not truly related to me, it felt like they were.
They had two houses when everyone else only had one.
Their second house was at the shore.

It was so much fun visiting Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim.
My parents became friends with them through adoption.
They had two adopted sons and helped my parents with the process of adopting me.

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There was something so beautiful about her face.
The world would probably surgically alter her years.
The world wants nothing to show the passage of time.

I looked at her kind face with its wrinkles like a tree trunk marking the years.
Wrinkles in all the right places: where she smiled; where her eyes expressed her heart.
She is simply lovely.
She wore her years on her face; she wore them well.

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We were eating dinner on our deck and reminiscing.
We were talking about our early married years.
The little bit we had in our bank account, renting our first apartment.
Moving into our first house with very little furniture.
The sweetest time of our lives.

All couples, who are married many years, remember that time fondly.
All young couples, just beginning their journey, find it hard to believe.
In the age of I want it all yesterday…it is hard to imagine that you have to wait.
Wait for even the simplest things.
Waiting is sweet.

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(originally published March 11, 2012)

There is something so majestic about horses. Their warm breath billows out of their noses on a cold morning. I see them through the mist and wonder how their spindly legs hold all their weight. The post and rail fences, that form a rustic perimeter for them to graze in, beg to be broken through. How can such a delicate fence contain that much power? I love to watch the horses get as close to the fence as they can with their heads reaching out into the road, yet never leaving the confines of their pasture.

When I was a small girl, I rode horses. Being young and inexperienced, my horse would be led by a stable hand. I was told where I could safely ride, how I could steer my horse with the right maneuvering of the reigns, and how I could gently coax him to move forward when he would stop to graze.

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There are certain couples that stay in your mind for years.
Something sets them apart.
You watch them; you learn from them; you remember them.

I had a dear friend in high school that would one day be my maid of honor.
I spent a lot of time at her house, with her family, during my high school years.
Her parents were such a sweet couple.

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Spring has arrived.
Even though it has been on the calendar for weeks, it has not felt like spring.
The temperature was finally in the 70’s.
The jacket I wore in the morning, I did not need in the afternoon.

I drove to Lancaster…the place that rejuvenates my spirit.
I was going to buy two porch rockers.
It was such a lovely day…sun shining…cows in the fields…Amish buggies on the road.

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I saw her as I started to pull away.
She was terribly bent over…trying desperately to walk on the sidewalk.
I saw her cane hanging over the edge of the tiny shopping cart.
Her body was twisted slightly on one side as she seemed to drag it along.

I was so afraid she was going to fall.
She was walking along the edge of the curb.
I couldn’t tell if she was going into the grocery store or coming out.
She had a plastic bag in her cart.

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The video was adorable.
A three year old girl waiting for a train to arrive.
It was to be her first train ride and she couldn’t wait!

You couldn’t help but smile.
Her face…priceless…as she first heard it, and then saw the train coming down the tracks.
Every inch of her little body shaking with anticipation.

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