January 31 - Soul Mate

Thought-Random:

That one thought connection with your soul mate
makes for
the profoundness of being alive each day!

"For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning."
~T.S. Eliot

January 1: Soul Mate

Thought-Random:

That one thought connection with your soul mate
makes for
the profoundness of being alive each day!

"For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning."
~T.S. Eliot

SLU Forensics Online Discussion Excerpts-1 (Are you where you had planned to be?)

(Thought-Random)-

Topic #8  July 29-Aug 5, 2012

Facilitator: Shem Berman

There are some of us who have always known what they would end up doing even when still young. Some were aided by their parents or their mentors. Some just had that vision of who or what they wanted to become. The choices they made in life, the activities they've done, the circle of friends or acquaintances they had, the organizations they've joined were all made to reach that particular goal. For others, the goal wasn't clear cut. They took detours and took awhile before finally deciding on what they wanted to do.

What would be interesting to know would be, how close we came to be or conversely, how far have are we from what we've thought we would be?

In my case, I come from a family of lawyers. Since grade school, I was already expected to follow into my father's footsteps. I already started helping out in a law firm in high school and, in college, I took up a course which would prepare me for law school. But after college, I changed course. I did go to law school for one sem but that was only to prove that I could do it then I completed my masters and never returned to law school. For sometime, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. I had jobs but I wasn't satisfied.

Now, I deal with numbers, forecasting and logic when I used to hate them (frustrated from lack of understanding would be the better term). Was this what I envisioned for myself? Yes and no. Did I ever imagine myself working in a multicultural company? Yes. Outside of the Philippines? Vaguely. Working with numbers? No. But is this where I want to be? At this point in my life, yes. Everything seemed to have clicked into place.

The topic discussion for this week: Looking at who you are now and what you individually accomplished in your lives, are you where you thought you would be when you started charting your path in life?

• Sonja Chan For my part, I came from a family of educators and for this very reason, I didn't want to become one more of them. So I thought I wanted to become a lawyer. That was the first career that came to my mind. I had always been on the defensive as far as my family was concerned. I always had a point not all would agree with and I also made it a point to stand by it. Of course, noble notions of defending the helpless, of fighting for justice and the rest of those profound thoughts that went along with the world of lawyering played in my mind. Later though, my wants just jumped into another world and I wanted to travel to other countries, to learn other languages and about other cultures so I thought Foreign Service was for me. Again, this just didn't materialize. And suddenly, things just happened and time just went by and without fanfare, I found myself a teacher. I skipped a lot of detail, of course, but the point is I am exactly where I didn't want to be. Funny how it happens that you end up liking what at first you decide not to like. I'll tell you a secret. This was also the case with the man I got married to. I said I wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth and I just ate my words. So I got myself into the academe... discovered and resolved that being an educator was just about the most sublime of careers for me... and from then on till now - as you can see - is still the life I cherish!

  August 2 at 8:46pm ·
  
  
• Albertina Lopes Ah, does anyone's life ever turned out as planned? :) Mine definitely did not! Disclaimer: my life was planned for me. I was so programmed to follow a certain path that I never really knew what I wanted. It's not my intention to whine. I am incredibly fortunate to have parents who prioritized my education above all else, and at great sacrifice to themselves. The decisions that they made for me put me in a position where at the end of the day, I was able to make the final decision about my path. Having thrown that disclaimer out there, here goes: I was doomed to follow a fast track to med school the day I asked my mother about the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians (although not in those exact terms). I was about four years old. Back then, my mother stored her copies of Time magazine behind the couch in the family room. When she caught me back there surreptitiously flipping through an edition featuring children of war, she was worried about my having seen the gruesome images. I was particularly curious about a little girl leading her parents' funeral procession after they had been assassinated, her eyes impossibly puffy in her pale little face. And when my questions came and my mother realized that I had been reading parts of the article and filling in what I couldn't understand with the photos, my fate was sealed. Another disclaimer: that story makes me sound way smarter than I actually am. I'm not that smart. I just peaked really early. Anyway, I followed the path that had been set out for me, but on my first day of medical school, I knew that it wasn't for me. Being an obedient daughter, I graduated, even took my boards. But through a series of decisions made through the years, I find myself managing the health services program of a non-profit that provides human services to 35,000 children and adults over 14 states. Nope -not exactly what I imagined I'd be doing. But am I happy? You bet! And along the lines of Dr Chan's revelation up there (although hers had a wonderful ending! :), as far as relationships go, when I was young, I thought that I would be married with kids at this point in my life, but I'm not. And I'm happy with that, even though it wasn't in The Plan. Breaking off my engagement was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, but it was also one of the best things I've ever done. My point? Given the circumstances in our lives, many of which are beyond our control, we do the best that we can, and discover things about ourselves in the process. Yes? :)

  August 3 at 12:00am ·
  
  
• Yvonne Pe Del Rosario Am i where i thought i would be when i charted out my path in life? Definitely not! I grew up in Baguio, and had to leave Baguio because earthquake left us with nothing much except education - and lots of friends. Who would have thought we'd all end up coming back to Manila? But then, i would say, i am way beyond what i thought i could have achieved. In career, I dreamed of being a manager in some company. when i started out, i didn't really think i'd become an officer after so many "sermons" from my superiors. I jumped from one job to another, still searching. I still get those "sermons", but I appreciate them more now. I still make a lot of mistakes, but I am now an officer in my career. In family, we had very supportive parents. I didnt really foresee what family life i would have had, but now I am a mom myself. In Chinese culture, it's usually the boys taking care of the parents. I have never thought that day (or those days) would come that I could pay back to my parents. My parents didn't require us to do anything for them. But I'm happy to have gone with mom to a trip abroad (it's not 100% on me, but sure was able to treat her then), happy to have treated my parents on some occasions, and happy to have helped out with some expenses.. and definitely happier to have a husband who understands and supports me here. In my social life, one teacher mentioned before that if you have a friend for more than 10 years, that's very very special. And if you have friends for years more than 10, that's for a lifetime probably. And I am so happy to have been very rich in that field. I have friends (they may be miles away) but am very proud to say that we've been bugging each others' pigtails for 29 years now. Albertina Lopes for one, has always been there for how many years now? nearly 20? I'm not saying my life's been perfect, there were too many obstacles along the way. But yes, i've definitely gone further from where i thought i could have been.

  August 4 at 12:04pm 
  
  ·
• Marl Rosal I believe, God has a plan for each and everyone of us.. No matter how we make way for our dreams, there is always a detour along the way.. :) Each of us, we dream.. we make out of it, sometimes at a very young age... i remember being fascinated with women wearing white (in short, the habit, most nuns before wear white) I used to admire them from afar and i like it very much seeing them especially when I go to church. I grew up dreaming that one day, i will be one of them and proudly wearing my very own. Growing up, I joined several organizations to work with them. I really go out of my way to be with them. While others my age are enjoying the carefree and wonderful life of teenagers, during my spare moments away from the market I am with the nuns, talking to them, teaching me how to crochet (most old nuns do during their spare time).. I can't remember exactly now how many convents i have been to just to take a peek of their life. I have seen, how Benedictine Sisters live, the Franciscans and even some Priest friends and a Bishop whom I dearly love but passed away due to illness. During college days I joined the Assumption Sisters, I taught deaf and mute kids until the earthquake took the Amapola building? In short, I really wanted that kind of life and chose the Pink Sisters Convent. I made all the necessary preparations and arrangements on my own cause my father was against it. He doesn't want to support me, I needed money to get in and i don't have so i have to go down to Manila to get my last salary from the company I last worked. That's when God decided to make a little twist, I met my husband 2 years hence without any spark and He made our paths crossed again. He just passed the board as a Civil Engineer. He learned later the reason of my stay in Manila. As days go by, we clicked and he proposed that we try and if in the end I am still decided to go in he will let me. He tried to help me find a job, but really Manila is not for me. I went back to Baguio and my job was waiting for me, with Pocketbell! With a dream job and a partner, I got confused and he never gave me the chance to back out anymore. :) 20 years ago, i walked down the aisle and said I do. Which i never regretted, maybe God said, this is a suitable life for you. Who am I to argue? God is good!

  August 5 at 6:35am · 
  
  
• Maria Cristina Bejar Gallardo I was reading all the responses you had posted on this topic and I would also like to share mine. I never knew what i really wanted to be while I was growing up. I felt like i was drifting through college, trudging through engineering--but i think i remember some special moments in my life that left such a deep impact on me. When I was 15 years old, I attended a workshop that was conducted by Ambassador Conchitina Sevilla Bernardo. She was talking about social graces. I remember very distinctly how awkward i felt at that time, being one of 3 girls attending with the graduating cadets of PMA in 1984. I was fascinated and enthralled with the speaker! She was so beautiful and confident and she gave the workshop as though she had lived everything she was teaching. I thought that I wanted to have her poise and confidence--(and her beauty, too!)-- when i got older. When i took up engineering, i was lost. The only classes i truly enjoyed were Ma'am Sonja's classes and Engineer dela Pena's. I always thought that someday, i would like to be able to teach like they did (and not become an engineer at all-hehehe). Little did I know that I would end up becoming a teacher-- at first a teacher of religion, then a teacher of English, then i somehow found myself thrown into the thick of the corporate world as a training consultant... Performance Management, Change Management, Leadership, Customer Service, Creative Problem Solving, Presentation Skills, Train the Trainer... the years had been kind and generous. I have learned so much from the people I had met along the way, and I have acquired skills that i never learned in school. I feel like I have lived a full, rich life, and my prayer every night now is, "Lord, please bring me where I could do the greatest good." And it doesn't matter what it is the He requires me to do. I have found that where He wants me to go, the doors would open, and the path would be laid out, lit up, and the people waiting. For a long time, i thought I just wanted to be a hermit-- to teach those who wanted to be taught, to answer only the questions that were being asked, and to live a quiet life in some cave. When he brought me to Indonesia, He gave me a cave in Bellagio Mansion, and I did teach only those that wanted to be taught. Then, on a whim, I prayed, "Dear God, I want to travel the world for free and do what i love the most-- teach. Can you do this for me?" Now, i have a new task laid out for me... He is clearly leading me to a new adventure-- and i shall be sailing the high seas on Celebrity Cruises-- as a Training and Development Manager for 1300 crew members.... God listens and He answers fast. Hehehe. ♥ So, did i end up doing what I wanted? I'd like to think that I am aligning myself with what He wants--and it is never an ending, but always a new beginning. ♥ 

  August 27 at 7:15 am

Lessons From 40 Films in 7 Minutes

Simple Quotes that Move the Heart

Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

Everything Happens For a Reason

Simple Truths of Life

Disclosure

(A Short Story)

         Dear Fred,  The weather is uncooperative with the kids today.  Notwithstanding my deep love for rain, I could empathize with their discomfort as they sit in my class with eyes through the window, longing for the sunshine,  feeling what a waste of an outside recess time it is.  Well, while they are doing some writing , I am actually preparing for some after class exercises for Albert.  Remember Albert?  I once mentioned to you this kid with some speech problems. Now, last night, his mom called to tell me the earlier sessions I had with him seemed to be doing good,  and she has asked me for  more! 

        Dear Linda,  I think that should call for some celebration! How about a glass of wine shared  me through the mailbox?  Kidding, of course!  But count that as one more feather to your cap. Am so proud of you, believe me.  Right now,  I am at this family business of ours run by my brother, Robert. It's a diner smack right in the middle of town but as I also sit here beside one of the windows, I am overlooking some mountains yonder and it's a beautiful sight I am enjoying.  You should really see this! A majestic row of tree-topped mountains against a vast blue sky with occasional drifting clouds! Counter-pointing this picture, however,  is a touch of a regular busy town sounds: cars passing by, kids shouting out to one another, a mom reprimanding her little one,  not to mention the clutter of silverware right behind me.  It's simply poetry, don't you think?

     Dear Fred,  I totally agree with you. I didn't know you had a little of the literary blood in your veins! You had always talked about aspects of running a business and about your take on the advances of modern technology, it made me think you were a downright pragmatic bent on nothing but efficiency. But it sure is an eye opener for me to know about this side of you. So have you ever tried to write poetry?

     Dear Linda,  Guess what, but I did once! The result?  You wouldn't want to know! It was such a failure I never tried it again. I suppose I am only good at enjoying the poetry of others, - not to create any of it. But you know, I was invited by the Curator of our local museum to its Opening Night last week and he tasked me to give a talk, would you believe that?  Apparently, I can talk but not write because the townspeople told me they were inspired!  Directed to me, I thought that was quite a compliment, which to my mind, is not really often. Can't one be good in both the written and spoken medium?  You tell me.  You're the language teacher!

     Dear Fred,  Don't be silly.  When it comes to judging your language skills, you know I will always be biased in your favor, so don't ask.  There was this new teacher who just joined us, by the way. He is quite young, comes from Indonesia, and you would be surprised how proficient I think he is with the English language considering it is a second language to him. He doesn't even have an accent!  I wouldn't be surprised if he grew up here in the US but he didn't.  From what I hear, he spent his college education in Belgium when his family had to migrate and yet, contrary to my expectation that he would speak  Flemish or French better than English, it is quite the other way round. I understand he is being trained to later take my position as my retirement isn't far off. He's quite a likeable colleague, if I may say.  And I don't usually have praise for anyone so easily as I do for him so there you go! Exceptional might be the term I have for him, you think? Well then now, how about you!  How have you been lately?

     Dear Linda,  So sorry for the late reply but I just got out of confinement from the hospital.  Yes, scold me for not letting you know, but I only wanted to save you from needless concern.  It was just a mild dose of a high blood pressure reading! Call it crazy but that's what I call it. Not really bad. It's just that family insisted I listen to the doctor instead of to myself and  be confined to give me a much needed rest.  That's according to them, okay?  But  I'm okay now, thank heaven.  I have gotten back enough energy to go back to my own teaching.  And I should thank Amber-sweet for all the care she shared during all that time in the hospital.  Ah yes, Amber-sweet! That's what Robert calls his lovely wife... that's what all of us in the family call her too!

     Dear Fred,  You certainly deserve a scolding.  For being 65, you should even have a double scolding for not taking care of yourself.  But I will spare you that as I am so glad you are now well and good anyway.  You are so like our school director... our parish priest, in fact.... such a stubborn man.  He is rightly called Father Johnson but he likes to be called Randy  You see,  St Gerard Academy is actually a parochial school so he gets to be my boss as well. He gets to have so many ideas regarding cutting down on aspects about the school that I can't help standing up against him at times.  Does that make me as hard-headed as he is ? Well, he claims  his moves will ultimately benefit the whole parish, and he might be right.  Still, I have my own misgivings.

     Dear Linda.,  I am looking at the photo you sent me a couple of years back and I feel like I am looking at a school girl I have fallen in love with through time That's clear exaggeration, I know, but strange how letters cut down the distance between us. And unbelievable how it is to know one so well without having met her personally. That is exactly the reason why I am so excited that finally, I'm going to meet up with you.  I share your joy over the retirement gift the school has given you - a round trip business ticket to Istanbul, imagine that! With a three-day all-expenses-paid-for-stay at the Cascade Premium Hotel! Okay, let me come and pick you up for breakfast Saturday morning and then I'll give you a tour around the place. Not to worry about a thing... I'll see you at the lobby at 8 o'clock.

     Dear Linda,   By this time, I am sure you are back home and understandably wishing you hadn't known me at all. I was there at  the hotel lobby, alright - earlier than 8, actually.  I watched you from a vantage point as the receptionist handed you my note at the desk. And I reiterate telling you how sorry I am for compounding things by not coming forward to meet you at least.  So as it was, you couldn't believe what you read in my note. "Better for us not to meet now or ever at all."  I was so distressed having to do this to you, please believe me. My heart went out for you and with you as you went back to your room perplexed and frustrated but I vowed to explain to you later. The thing was when you went to hear mass the next morning, it was to my parish you came and incredulously found out that it was I who said mass.... and you left the church right then and there. You found out before I could tell you.  I know we told each other everything about us but why, you ask,  did I keep from you the fact that I was a priest?  Well, because if I did, I'd have lost you, you who gave me as a man fulfillment in life simply by sharing it with me even if only through your letters. To my parishioners, I am just an icon, an ideal, but with you, I am me...and strange as it may, it even gives essence to my priesthood.  Linda,  I'd so much pray you would understand and forgive me and still have me remain to you as  "Dear Fred"?

     Dear Linda,   I know you how angry you must be until now but I beg you to find in your heart some forgiveness for a wretched soul like me. I certainly don't deserve it but I am willing to wait till kingdom come for absolution.  Meantime, let me tell you we're trying to raise funds to expand the eastern wing of the church. The parish council is planning to put up either a play or a concert, perhaps tapping the kids from our Sunday School down here to do it. Over all these, Linda, I go on praying  you would understand and forgive me and still have me remain to you as "Dear Fred"?

     Dear Fred,   I had to let some time go before replying while I tried to let go my hurt and disappointment.  It's true, I wished to heaven I'd never known you. I didn't want to have anything to do with you anymore.  But well,  I guess I do understand after all.  I had always taught my kids in class that God was all forgiving so why couldn't I be? And yes, why couldn't we just continue to be friends? Some of my old friends visited,  by the way, and were surprised to see me back in school.  They knew I had retired but it was welcome news for them to find I had accepted Father Randy's offer to be the new Principal. You know, we still argue about a number of things on the policies of the school but we do get along  pretty well.  And too, Albert has improved a lot more already.  A few more weeks of practice and his speech problems will totally and hopefully be overcome. Write me back and tell me more news from your end, too?

                             ---------------------------------------------------------

Denouement

(A Short Story)

        Linda critically surveyed herself in the mirror.  Hair  swept back from her face.  Eyes in black circles.  Lips firm, vanishing any trace of a smile.  And she was in a light gray pencil outfit.  This she once did some five years ago.  Same dresser.  Same room.  Same apartment.  Only she was younger.  Her hair was slightly shorter then, and she used to let it fall. She wore pink like almost always she did and yes, she was happy- unexplainable it was, but happy!

         Today, however, she wasn't sure about her feelings.  Wasn't she supposed to be happy? In the news was word that Fred's company had returned to camp;  her heart cried out that it should be reason enough for some joy but her mind dryly countered it with, "What for?" And yet deep inside her, the truth was that she was actually excited.  Only, she wonderfully succeeded in covering it up with indifference.  She curtly reminded herself that she was meeting up with Jeffrey at her down town favorite coffee shop in an hour so she must start getting ready.

        A gentle rap at the door made her walk towards it with uncertain steps.  She was aware that she was tracing the very steps her mother made to go open that door to Fred almost at that same hour of the evening - five years ago.  She caught her breath as she gave out under a whisper, "Fred!"   The next moments held her standing there, taking back the same sort of unbelieving look from the eyes of the Army uniformed man who blocked the doorway tall, dark and handsome.

        One of them had to break the spell and so Linda forced herself to the obligation.  "Please come in, Fred."

        Slowly,  the words came forth. "I really don't know if it makes sense for me to say you haven't changed, Linda, but somehow, you do look different from the last time I saw you." It was Fred who kind of started the conversation.

        She folded her arms as she leaned back in her chair and answered, "Perhaps, Fred! I've heard that from so many people already that I would not be surprised if you said it too.  The only difference now is that I hear it from someone I thought I'd never see again."  And she was taken in by recall.

        The 'last time' was the night he had taken her to a school dance.  She had entertained a partner alone no other than he.  And after the affair, she remembered how childish she thought of the gang's usual call for a coffee shop escapade and how she refused - she had asked Fred to bring her straight home.  She realized she was then saying goodby to childish ways but that was also the very night he was called back to camp as they were to be shipped out the next morning.

        Now she asked him, "How's the army these days, Fred? And about having been so far and so long away from home?"  She didn't wait for an answer, though.  As if to give him time to make up the answers, she excused herself to fix him a cup of coffee.

        Meanwhile, he made himself comfortable.  Everything in the living room still stood as it used to be.  The sala set, the bookshelf by the eastern window, they were still there.  Only the curtains seem to be new.  But he also noticed an unfamiliar object - a picture frame on the piano.  He moved closer to it -  to see for himself a scene reenacted a distance in front of the church altar.... two coffins over a black mantle covered-table set with big candles and a lot of flowers.  And there was Linda kneeling on the nearest pew, face buried in her palms. He felt a sting of pain as he empathized with her aloneness at that moment. He censured himself for having not been there for her notwithstanding the fact that he really could not have been there.

        At least he was thankful that he didn't have to ask her about her parents anymore. No need really to open up doors to painful memories.  They had been so caring as far as their daughter was concerned and he decided that that was perfect - just perfect while he was going to be gone for some time.  Was it selfish for him  even to consider they'd treasure her for him meanwhile? This wisp of a girl who stole his heart just like that?   He remembered the mental discomfiture they were in that last night they had allowed Linda to go out with him.  They had only shortly known him!  And  she was so young then.

     "But when could this have happened?" he wondered... and his eyes found the answer at the lower right hand corner of the framed picture:  September 24, 2008! He let out a very softly whispered, "Wow! ... the very next day after that night?"  And in his mind, he went on:  So they never lived to see her graduate from college? Never lived to glory in her successes, one of which was moving on to  being appointed Principal of their local High School?  He had somehow known about these but only these about her... strangely not about her parents' passing away... nor of  Jeffrey's coming into her life.  Jeff had been a close family friend, a neighbor, in fact, who tried to stand in as big brother to Linda, so much so for the whole town to conjecture that she would eventually marry him.

     Fred stopped short at the realization that the unfamiliar features he noticed in Linda's face were the offshoot of having had to face life on her own.....at such an early age!  "And to think I came home to marry a child!"

     Linda stirred sugar into the cup of boiling hot coffee.  Within the tiny whirlpool she created, she pictured herself:  the girl, then the woman.  It strengthened  her sense of acquired independence.  It hardened her heart that overflowed with life's trials.   "If I had managed all  by myself, I still could," she was trying to assure herself.

     Footsteps slowly but steadily came until they stopped a near distance from her back.  Only then did she realize she had stirred the coffee almost cold.  She turned.  Their eyes met.  All too suddenly the moment could no longer deny that the magic of last time was still there.  In that level gaze, Fred once again noticed those hard lines on her face - an addition to the very same Linda he once knew - because the sparkle in her eyes still gleamed for him.  And he loved her more.

     For Linda, the same instant opened her eyes to a truth - the coffee without sugar was her without him no matter how she tried to cover it up with pride and bitterness.  She could only put blame on circumstances of which he had no part.  And in some part of her mind now came the thought of Jeff... but he will understand, she resolved.

     Now, for reasons only her heart could understand, she wanted a question answered.  "So why has the Lieutenant come back home?"

                       ______________________________

    

    

     

    

    

       

       

Going over the Threshold

(A Short Story)

        "Will I do, Father?" Linda asked as she entered the living room with a half smile on her lips, her fingers lightly touching her formal suit.

        Mr. Benson looked up from his newspaper and let out a long, slow, whistle. "Somebody!" he called, "introduce me, please. Surely, this angel can't be my daughter?"

        Linda laughed, "Oh, Father, you're being corny again!"

        The mother also gazed at her daughter.  It really seemed unbelievable for them to behold her, already a perfect young lady - the same baby they had laid in the hospital bed seventeen years ago; the same little girl they fitted with a First Holy Communion veil.  And it wasn't so long ago that they were privileged to pin a medal for academic honors on her at high school graduation time.  Those events seemed to have happened only yesterday.

        "Linda, sit down a minute, honey." Mrs. Benson ventured to say,   "there are some points I'd  want you to know."

        "Now, Mom, I can't or I'll wrinkle my dress.  I know you don't like Fred, but I really am not a baby anymore as you think."

        "Linda, I never said I don't like Fred.  It's just that you don't know him enough.  You're only seventeen.  A boy... a man of twenty-four who's been in the army has met all kinds of people and..."

        "Mother, just don't waste your breath until you have met him.  I know you'll like him."  She leaned over her mother, gently planted a kiss on her cheek and went back into her room."

        The man standing at the door with a lovely orchid in his hands seemed very young.  He blushed as Mrs. Benson led him inside to meet her husband.

        "Glad to know you, Fred.  How's life in the army these days?"  Mr. Benson smiled at him curiously.

        "Not bad at all, Sir.  But we expect to be shipped out any day now."  He rubbed his fingers on the lapel of his shirt.  After an uncomfortable silence, he swallowed hard and expostulated, "I appreciate very much your allowing me to take Linda out despite the fact that we have only shortly met each other."

        A fresh wave of misgivings and mistrust swept through Mrs. Benson although she couldn't deny that she, herself, was impressed by his gentlemanly manners, - even at first sight of him.  How she longed to lead her daughter back into the blessed years of peaceful childhood!  Resolutely, she hardened her heart. "Linda was brought up strictly.  Naturally, we wouldn't want her to stay out too late."

        "Of course," he said, "I'll bring her home early."

        The young pair had gone and Mr Benson led his wife back into the living room.  As he was aware of the mental discomfiture that stunned her, he tried to comfort her, "Honey, dear, listen to me.  For seventeen years we have guarded Linda, body, heart, and soul in tact. Now, it is high time for us to stand back and let the training take over.  I know we won't be disappointed. Just keep calm."  And he went to bed.

        Mrs. Benson tried to stay up a little longer and do a little more of her crocheting.  She didn't even notice the hours pass by as she kept pondering on the dangers and the pitfalls that inevitably confront a young lady like Linda.  She recollected headlines that emphasized the aggressiveness of modern teenagers and how they dared go to extremes.

        Then suddenly, she held her breath as she heard the door quietly open.  A swift glance at the wall clock told her it was only 11:45. Could something have happened?

        "Hi!" nervously, she called to them.  "I didn't expect you home so early."

        "Oh, I'm glad you're still up, Mrs. Benson," Fred returned.  "I really wanted to say goodbye to you and Mr. Benson.   You see, I just received an emergency communication from my superiors to be back in camp..... we're leaving tomorrow.  You have been so nice to me and I will never forget it!"

        He shook hands with the mother.  Then to the girl, with a steady gaze into her eyes, he drew her hands to his lips and said, "Thanks for your wonderful company, Linda.  I hope we'll meet again someday." And he walked over the threshold.

        Mrs Benson felt uncomfortable, this time, due to the rash judgment she had made on Fred.  He measured up to her expectations after all.

        "You can go to bed now, dear,"  she said as she stroked the strand of hair that fell on Linda's forehead into place.  "Tell me all about it in the morning!"
. 
        In her room now, Linda was still in her suit.  She switched off the lamp and moved slowly to the open window.  Down the street, just a block away, she could hear the music and the laughter at the gang's favorite coffee shop.
                                                                                                                                                                   
        Throughout the ball, she had entertained no other partner but Fred.  Maybe it was because he was different from the others being in uniform. Or maybe because he acted so reserved? So unlike the boys she knew? She couldn't put a finger to it.

        After the event, the gang had invited her to the coffee shop as they were wont to do but this time, she had refused. She felt as if it would be childish and she asked Fred to take her straight home.  Maybe when they meet again, they will be like strangers.  Maybe the magic will have worn off.  Maybe.  But she will never forget this night -  the night she grew up and said goodbye to childish ways.  It might have well counted for a fairy tale night but for Linda, that night had been a beautiful reality as she had walked over the threshold and turned woman!

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