Written in December of 2012 but plucked recently from the depths of an old journal:        A couple walked into Nectar, mid-December, Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song, lights twinkling around the window displays of fancifully wrapped gifts, tables and furniture overflowing with items from all over the world. Ceramics, woven things, votives, glassware, candle holders, and ornaments of every creature and infatuation hung from silver and birch branches throughout the full and colorful shop. Amidst it all, soft fleshed, soft eyed, arm in arm, the couple was in their late 70's, or early 80's if I had to guess, but both walked with strength and purpose.

Chatting easily together, they chirped suggestions of gifts for this person or that. They seemed to especially delight in each other, something I was not at all experiencing in my own relationship at that moment...