Keith loves the shock value of telling people we are related; we are not! Keith, an only child, lived with his parents in Richmond and they visited the country folks on their annual July vacation. His aunt was married to my cousin. Cousin Buster (my first cousin) and Cousin Bonnie (his aunt) had three children named Oakelee, Dorian, and Althea. Are you lost yet?
Keith was a really pretty boy – Carolina Blue eyes and inch-long eyelashes. As youngsters, along with these shared cousins, we played together in the summertime. And…my first crush developed. By the time we were eleven years old I was madly in love with the city boy.

Over the years, our lives took separate paths.  He married and had three sons.  I married and had two daughters and a son.  On occasion, we bumped into each other at weddings, funerals and other major events that drew him back to the country.  I like to think he looked my way as much as I looked at him.

Such was the case in October of 2001 when I received a condolence email from Keith regarding my daughter’s passing.  Like sand in an hour-glass, time had moved and shifted.  Tragic events had occurred and suddenly I was alone; he shared with me the same was true for him.

With considerable ease and comfort that first email led to a relationship so remarkable, it is hard to believe it to be true.  Keith confided, when we were adolescents, he was infatuated with me as well.   If there ever was a happily ever after story, it is ours.  God has placed us exactly where He intended us to be! It just took those sixty years in-between to mold us into the people we are today.