you have to love something before you can hate it.

She turned to face him. She reached over and touched his hand, hesitantly, gently, amazed that after all these years had somehow known exactly what she'd needed to hear. When their eyes locked, she once again realized how special he was. And just for a fleeting moment, a tiny wisp of time that hung in the air like fireflies in summer skies, she wondered if she was in love with him again.

A good man is hard to find," she said wistfully. "Not everyone is as lucky as you are.

I'd like to marry you, if you think that would be okay.

I lost you once, I think I can do it again.

Who did she know in Raleigh who took the time off to fix a house? Or read Whitman or Eliot, finding images in the mind, thoughts of the spirit? Or hunted dawn from the bow of a canoe? These weren't the things that drove society, but she felt they shouldn't be treated as unimportant. They made living worthwhile.

I'll admit that it's not easy to get an agent, but becoming successful in anything requires perseverance.