Happy 2nd Anniversary,
My LOVE!!!

The above is how an Angel visiting Earth, KC,  "re-proposed" to me on February 14, 1996! How could I refuse????????? It was "Love at First Sight"!  Magical, Mysterious, and Undeniable, we celebrate our anniversary as being October 7th, 1995. This was when Kenny and I promised our Love to one another, and the first time I allowed anyone to move in with me. Glad I took the chance! (It's such a past muddle my dates just don't seem to make sense, but in an untraditional marriage, pick and choose is the theme of the day!)

We met in 1993, and used the following years to get to know one another, by having fun together with friends.
He "re-proposed" to me last year, I "re-proposed" to him this year!
(Our FIRST proposal and acceptance was our first kiss. See why it's hard to describe a MAGICAL OCCURENCE?)

 This is a tradition borrowed from one of my brothers, and his wife. They renew their vows each year, and alternate the proposal/acceptance. We now do the same!

What "caught" him?
One day, (long before he re-proposed),  we were singing along to Peter, Paul, and Mary's album, (LifeLines). It's our favorite album! "Take the Chance", came on, I turned to him and looked deep into his soul and sang it to him. From my Heart. It's not the first time that Peter, Paul, and Mary's Music and evident Love have affected me deeply.  He told me later no one had ever told him "Believe that you deserve for the Sun to Shine."
If you've never heard it, GO GET THE ALBUM!!!!! It's difficult to present the title as it has a cute graphic that I can't reproduce with keystrokes, but the catolog number is: 9 45852-2 produced by Warner Brothers.

My CD is autographed by Peter, Paul, Mary, and Pete Seeger, and  my dear Friend, Ronnie!  I insisted he autograph it too (it embarrased him greatly, he is such a gentle, unassuming soul!) The Guest Pass Ronnie arranged for me to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, 1995, is stuck to the back! At that festival, Mary Travers dedicated their performance of Home Is Where The Heart Is, to  Ronnie, who's physical presence  is indeed sorely missed,  but in our Hearts and on THE GREAT MANDALA Lives and Loves forever, and ever!
Whenever we need "restoring" we sing to their album.

We've been on our "second honeymoon"! Kenny took the week off, and we've been playing "tourist" in our Home Town of San Francisco. We've been rediscovering our favorite vistas, enjoying one another's company and sharing in many HAPPY THOUGHTS!

We've rented and watched several Disney Movies! We started with my favorites, Sleeping Beauty, (Once Upon A Dream is where we met, you see!), Mary Poppins (Just A Spoonful Of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down!), Pinocchio, (When You Wish Upon A Star, your dreams DO come true!). We also watched Fantasia, another of my favorites. We still have Dumbo, The Sword In The Stone, The Secret Of Nimh and many others to watch.

Disney is not the only movie maker we learn from, and someday I may have a page listing our favorite songs, movies and books.

The Hollywood Dream Machine is to us the "purveyors" of Dreams. Walt Disney knew the importance of dreams, and though they are set in traditional forms, they apply to anyone who Hopes and Dreams of True Love.

We like to dream!

We've also discovered a Master Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade. Experience his beautiful visions of Promise, Hope, and Love.

Kenny's now reading J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings, one of my favorite fantasies! If your dreams are less than beautiful, I suggest you read it too!

And as My Love says, Think HAPPY THOUGHTS!
I will add, fear nothing, and learn to distinguish your expectations from those around you. Know yourself and the world will reveal itself to you, through your own knowledge.

We Hope for our dreams and dismiss the fears of others. Or I do, Kenny just Loves without thinking! (he's a VERY UNTYPICAL AQUARIAN! I'm a typical Pisces!)

Simple, No? As a Teacher once told me, simple does NOT mean easy!

But it is possible, and the rewards, though indescribable, are REAL!

And now an open letter to someone who has helped us ALL immensely:

Dear Ellen,
         Thanks for coming out! Isn't it good to feel "normal"? (Grin!)
Would you like to know my story of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, May, 1995? My friends seem to be very insistent that I tell! In thanks to you and them, I will!

Peter, Paul, and Mary have been instrumental in my Life and Heart.  I've always enjoyed and appreciated their gift of Music, but something very special happened to me that Spring of 95.

That spring, I went to New Orleans to visit a friend, Ronnie, who lived south of the French Quarter.
He had planned ahead, and requested of PP&M Guest Passes for myself and other friends.

Also on that excursion, I met a new friend, who has helped me immensely to realize Love does enable and nurture all.

He was the first person in several years that I allowed to capture my Imagination and my Heart.
Though we did not expect to get together, as I was positive and he negative, we did expect and have since become very close Friends.
At that time though, I was extremely dissapointed that I had found someone to Love, that was 3000 miles away.

I returned home, and within a few days, was very depressed. I was sitting in my Home, listening to PP&M's latest album, LifeLines; To the song Take the Chance and suddenly I did Take The Chance and the tears started to flow and the Joy welled up and HEALED my soul, and I discovered I am not IN Love, I AM LOVE, and I felt One with All of Creation.
And I still do! I stepped into a future where All is Love and no harm can befall the essence that is me. We are all contained in a bosom of Love. So I wrote:

And
For the Love of it All,
I cry at the Beauty of the universe,
I laugh in delight at my Life,
I feel Joy in the Gift I have been given:
The pain is gone.

I've come Home.
 

This "revelation" allowed me to FEEL the LOVE in the Universe.
I thought to myself, 'This must be what is described as a Mother's Love that she feels at birth.
Having jumped to that "track", I finally allowed myself to feel the possibility (at 41), of finding my soulmate. Glad I did, as I wouldn't have allowed My Angel, Kenny Cowan, in my life.  I just wouldn't have seen the choices!