This is a love story about people from the class of nineteen sixty seven at Mt. Carmel High School.
Once upon a time they came together to grow in wisdom and age and grace before God and man. They were a cute bunch of kids who met as freshmen and graduated as young men and women Among them was a couple that seemed so cute together, so perfect, but perhaps it was just a high school fling because after graduation they went their different ways leading often exciting and even adventurous lives without each other.
She loved horses and rode them in competitions. He went to medical school and became a highly respected doctor. Both of them would marry other people, become parents, continue to follow their passions and seemingly move farther and farther away from each other. The sweet photos of them dancing together as teens would age inside photo albums and somehow only be nice memories of a long ago past, or so it seemed.
Fifty years later they were both single again. Their children were grown. The members of the Class of Sixty Seven were planning a reunion, a time to reminisce and check to be certain that everyone was still doing well. Perhaps that’s when a spark was ignited between them once again or maybe it had always been waiting in the back of their minds for a moment when they might get to know each other again.
At first they were simply two people joining other classmates for dinner dates or celebrations. Before long they were riding horses together on the beach or meeting up for baseball and football games. Everyone saw how happy they were when they were taking dance lessons or just laughing and telling each other stories. It came as no surprise when they announced that they were in love and planning to marry. Their buddies from high school were overjoyed to hear the news. it seemed so right, as though the world had purposely adjusted to make sure that their union happened.
When the day of their life as man and wife finally came she was beaming with joy and beauty that literally radiated in every photo. The girls from school who were now mature women had stood by her and decade after decade. They were overjoyed to see their two friends coming together. The children celebrated that their parents could find such joy and love even in their seventies. He was handsome and so sweetly smiled at her. It all would have been perfect if he had not become ill on that day. Nonetheless nothing seemed capable of reducing the happiness that their expressions confirmed.
As time unfolded they went on cruises, hosted wonderful parties, became more and more part of each other’s extended families and circles of friendship. Being around them was revitalizing. The energy released from their devotion to each other was palpable. It felt good just being in the same room with them. Somehow the old saws about the purity and everlasting essence of first love seemed to be confirmed in their partnership. I was a joining of two spirits who seemed meant to be together.
Just when life seemed so perfect for these two and for the old friends who supported them he was diagnosed with cancer. He could not have asked for better care. She lovingly walked hand in hand with him every step of the way during his medical journey. She kept that brilliant smile on her face and demonstrated her total devotion to the vows that she made to him on their wedding day. She was in it for sickness or health and he once again appeared to be well.
They celebrated every single day of life with so much gusto that I wondered where they got all of their energy. They seemed to be everywhere doing everything wonderful, hugging and kissing each other with unabated wonder. It was delightful to see them together and to literally witness the power of love.
Then came a shock for those of us who found our own joy in celebrating their love. He had died. It was devastating and bitterly emotional, but their romance that had seemed more intense that any ever created in fiction continues on in her heart and in the memories of him that she so generously shares with us even in her grief.
I have cried for her but also understood the great gift of love that the two fo them gave each other. Romeo and Juliet have nothing on Punch and David. Theirs was a very special relationship that mellowed like a fine wine over time. She was a princess and he was her sweet prince. She may wish him goodnight but I know that he will not be gone. His memory will be a blessing to her for the rest of her life.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 