DECEMBER 16
“You will embark,” he said, “on a fair sea, and at times there
will be fair weather, but not always. You will meet storms
and overcome them. You will take it in turns to steer your
boat through fair weather and foul. Never lose courage. Safe
harbour awaits you both in the end.”
—DAPHNE DU MAURIERThe relationship described here is a long and happy mar-
riage, but it could be any long-term relationship between
those who love each other. And what more could we hope
for, looking back over the vagaries, the “fair weather and
foul,” through which any long and intense relationship goes,
than this recognition that we have met storms and not been
overcome, and that safe harbor awaits us both at the end?
Seldom do two people who love each other reach harbor
at the same time. One gets there first. In our case, in this re-
lationship, we will arrive second. And it is not too much to
hope that this one we loved—and other loved ones who
have gone before us—will be present at the harbor, waiting
to welcome us home.
With confidence in the stars that guide me and the waves that
carry me, I move toward that harbor where my loved ones wait.