“The sky was turning gray when I picked her up that day…” well, the gray, overcast sky that day sent me into a dreamland where I met a young woman a little down on her luck, but not about to give up on herself or her hopes of making her life better. She stood at the side of the road with a worn, well-traveled tan suitcase resting at her feet.

I understood from the very beginning that she had seen a lot of life, but I had to draw her out, because she hid herself, her thoughts and her opinions, as she sized me up. She let me know that she wanted to get on with her life, whatever the future held.

Once I finally passed the test she used to qualify a man, she opened up about the kind of life she’d been living. We ate a dinner together and kept talking and sharing bits and pieces about our pasts, our hopes and our dreams.

She still lives on in my mind. I can hear her voice, her laughter, and I remember the way she watched how I reacted to the things she revealed about herself. We’ll never leave that dining room table. Our glasses of wine will be refilled again and again as our conversation continues and I sing her song …