An amazing sequence of events entwined two hearts with love, surprise and synchronicity. It did not start out that way, though.

Back in November, I left for a ten-day trip to Florida with my BFF, leaving Dear Hubby, Tim, home alone to care for the cat, manage the house, and go to work. All should have been well, but ten days, it seems, was way too long for the both of us to be apart. (Later we realized, neither of us had ever been away that long in over 35 years.) 

He ended up facing the week from hell; one of those weeks where every imaginable thing that could go wrong—did—including spilling his coffee while driving (not once, but twice). This is something he's probably never had happen in all his years of driving.

Once upon a time, there lived a young, dancing princess. When she put her tap shoes on, audiences were mesmerized. She and her partner, Tommy, kicked up their heels and "cut a rug"—just as they'd been taught by their famously-known teacher, a one-time dancer from moving pictures and vaudeville shows.

Deep in her heart, the princess longed for her life to stand for something. She wanted her life to have meaning. She didn't know how to accomplish this. (After all, she was only nine.)

She wrote in her diary, "Ask for more things that show other girls that someone has been there."

It was her only entry.

One day while waiting for the school bus, the dancing princess slipped on the ice and was hit by an oncoming car. Her daddy carried her into the house. The ambulance rushed her to the hospital. But the doctors said there was nothing they could do. She died that same day.

We are often taught to believe that our restoration for “being good” or for pulling through tough circumstances will come when we get to heaven. That may or may not be true. 

I feel that our true restoration comes when we move past pain, past fear, past grief and loss to see the new possibilities that have opened up to us and step into them.