(A friend challenged me to write a short story using the words, “sun, moon and lovers.” How did I do?)

It was in a restaurant and, of course, I was late. A friend of a friend set us up and told me to look for a guy in a red sport coat. (I guess red isn’t that popular, hence…)

I spotted him and noticed he already had a glass of wine. I didn’t mind. I smiled as we shook hands. (Forget the pre-wine, he held the chair for me. That goes miles for me.) It’s weird, but it didn’t take long into our conversation, waiting for the food, that I began to notice my reflection in his face. In talking about my struggles at work, he was affirming but not in the first-date sort of way. He truly listened to me and even offered some helpful tips about perspective and not taking myself too seriously. It was a delightful meal, as though we had many meals like that. But that was the first.

On our fiftieth anniversary, the card he gave me said that his life with me reflected back to him all the good he was able to do. Then he quoted Jerry MacQuire saying, “You complete me.” Yes, I cried. Our five children and grandchildren attended our family party, and I was able to see in all of them, the reflections back and forth between their father and me.

I look at the sun in the morning and feel its warmth throughout the day. The moon, with all its phases, has influenced me uncountable times. The union of these illuminating, celestial beams had truly made us lovers.