Darling Sylvia – I love we two moments. Hidden in the weeds beside the Polly Ann Trail, we spotted bottled gentians (Gentiana andrewsii) and turtleheads (Chelone glabra). The delicate blue gentian and the creamy pink tinged white turtlehead ten feet away were exquisite. The flowers became the signposts of a precious moment we two shared.  We were hand in hand in the mild fall “Pure Michigan” morning. I shared a story of my dad selling a bottled gentian for two dollars to Hubbardston’s Dr. Gibbe in 1929 for his wildflower garden. It was a story of Dad that in our 50 years together you had not heard.  We learned the botanical names in 1968 at Alma College. We were both grateful that Dr. Kapp took the time in Vascular Plant Taxonomy to give us a shared language of flowers.

Shared memories of special moments fill the landscape of our life together. We say to each other, “This deserves to be a memory.”  We want to keep this experience. How do we capture the magic of we two time?  We have learned to take the time to intentionally stop, look, listen and celebrate.  We sense the colors, see the shadows in the sunshine, hear the rustle of aspen leaves in the gentle breeze, feel the texture of the air, and smell the odors of the season. Together we give the experience a name.

 Our day to day living is busy. It’s a good busy. We gladly interact with our family and our world. Sometimes, we forget to notice the we two moments.  Precious and too few are the moments we two can share. I am glad that when those we two moments occur we have learned to recognize them.  We save the memories and savor them together over and over again.

Love you – Eddie Bert