Chapter 17 – Recovery and Healing, Part 3 Sharon

I devote this chapter to my wife, Sharon White.  The lessons of love learned while with my wife Sharon could encompass an entire book of its own.. On July 4, 1989  I met Sharon, and her daughter Hayley while attending a Course In Miracles discussion group in the basement of the Unity Church in southeast Portland.  Right off the bat I was struck by what a genuine human being that she was,  appearing real, honest, deep, and personal. Her daughter exhibited some unusual behavior, and I could tell that Sharon was dealing with troubling mental health issues with family members. I eventually joined in relationship with Sharon, after being reintroduced to her at a Living Enrichment Center gathering around the Twelve Steps of Recovery, a several week presentation by Mary Boggs, the minister of LEC.  We both scheduled our attendance at a Course In Miracles weekend retreat that LEC was sponsoring over the weekend of August 4, 1989.  When the retreat was cancelled, I offered to Sharon that we create a retreat of our own.  I chose Cultus Lake, a mountain lake in Central Oregon, which my family had camped at several times when I was a young person.  We proceeded to hit it off so good together that weekend, that we knew we were right for each for now, and for a long, long time to come.

LEC Course In Miracles Weekend handout

Come September, though, I could see that I was becoming quite involved in Sharon’s life, and if I did not travel to Boston soon, and research a powerful dream that I had, I would have no opportunity to do so in the future.  So I arranged a week trip to Boston, not knowing what in the heck I was going to find there.  I knew that the Mother Church of the Church Of Christian Science was located there.  Joel Goldsmith’s teachings had some of their origins from Mary Baker Eddy’s teachings, so maybe I  was supposed to go there to see or hear something Ms. Eddy related.  I did go by the church, and sat in on a few sessions.  I was asked by one of the ministers what I was doing there, just visiting, or did I have a desire to learn more about Christian  Science?  I told her that I was a student of Joel Goldsmith, and that I had also read some of Mary’s works.  She immediately escorted me to Mary’s private study, which nobody had access to, save a special few individuals.  She told me that I probably would like to sit and pray and meditate there, and for me to take as much time as I like.  So, that is what I did.  I found my sense of the sacred and profound, and felt blessed by this exposure to the Church, and to Mary Baker Eddy’s private study.  I will never know for sure if this is what the dream wanted for me to do, but that is what I did.  I wanted to make sure to honor the energy, and its revelations, as best as I could. I moved in permanently with Sharon later that year, and her daughter Hayley lived with us until July of 1990, when she struck out on her own, to find her own truth and healing.  I was having some difficulty communicating with Hayley.  Sharon and her daughter had some unique mutual control dynamics that were not healthy or satisfying to witness, or to participate with.  Sharon ended up signing up for a class from Diana Martha Clark, who was teaching a twelve step recovery course on co-dependency, which Sharon ended up benefiting greatly from.  Hayley had a lot of growing up to do, and I became disturbed by her need for chaos, need to hold her mother as an emotional hostage, and her lack of respect for my need for peace and honest, loving expression in communication.  She could be particularly harsh, angry, and insensitive, and I felt like I was always walking on eggshells with her. One weekend in July of 1990, I went to my grandma Henry’s home to stay while she was out-of-town.  I spent literally the whole weekend in prayer and meditation around my troubles with Hayley.  Then a most unusual thing happened.  I “heard” that my issues around Hayley had been resolved, and that she was not to be an issue any further.  I went back to our apartment that Sunday evening, and upon my re-entry, I was informed that Hayley had decided to move out, and live with Martha Cannon, a former patient of Sharon’s. Remarkably, the only problems that arose with my early relationship with Sharon, other than daughter related, revolved around Sharon assuming that I knew what her needs were before she expressed them to me, but that misunderstanding quickly worked itself out.

As I look at my history, I see the workings of the Mystery.

Hayley, Sharon, Bruce 1989 gag photo in booth

Sharon and I shared a common passion of finding and expressing the joy and truth in life, and we meditated and prayed together for many hundreds of hours together, especially early on in our relationship.  The fruitage of one of our shared meditations is the following “poem”.  I had a particularly deep, profound connection during a meditation around 1990, where I had once again entered into Truth’s domain.  There was no apparent message, that is, until I returned to my conscious mind.  The silence then used the words in my memory to create the following message.  The first stanza I wrote in 1985, prior to any real spiritual unfolding, and I could never finish it until this meditation in 1990 filled in the body of it: THE VOICE OF AWAKENING Though the slowly shifting sands of time, Create ever taller hills for this lost soul to climb, It must be in my selfish, hateful world of no reason or rhyme, I must begin the search for Truth, to find the Love that is sublime. “Oh seeker of Truth, God’s high mount you would climb, Though you now stumble through the valley’s shifting sands of time. Stop confusing your mind with worn out rhyme and reason, For they are forever charged by Truth with treason!” “Oh mental marathoner , only on Life’s treadmill you now stand, Just re-using the same words and thoughts keeps you life’s ‘also ran’ You’ll forever chase in vain Love’s all-knowing voice, So be still, for with your run’s end, is the Cause to rejoice!” “Oh marionette’s dancing image of the screen of the world’s mind, With all of those conditioned beliefs in control, what freedom could you find? Release yourself from all of those memories’ materialistic strings To prepare for the inner Wisdom that only my Intelligence brings!” “Oh shadow boxer of evil, when will you ever tire? Tis only champion of a dream world to which you aspire! Cease giving energy to your illusions with those mental pugilist blows, And reveal the peaceful mind of the One who now knows!” “So please wake up to Love’s voice sweet somnambulator, And realize the eternal truth that “I” within “you” is greater, Than any mental image you could ever form or learn, And then your World will reflect the One for whom you now yearn!” And then the real “punch line” to the search for Truth: “To be in realization of Truth, is to find God’s high mount another illusion to climb, Created by fearful, desirous minds caught on the merry-go-round of time” The dark, restless mind remains forever bereft of Love’s Rhyme and Truth’s Reason, And only chases after mirages, until it sees all of its movements are guilty of treason!” Sharon and I continued to attend various workshops and meetings revolving around self and planetary healing.  She introduced me to Gary Spanovich, a fascinating man with what appeared to be a quite sincere and profound connection with “the still small voice”. We did several sweat lodge ceremonies with Gary at his Canby home.  I remember one sweat lodge ceremony where there were ten participants, eight of which were women.  We were required to all be naked for the ceremony.  I had no issue with that, until Gary said that the “still small voice” told him that everyone needed to hug each other, even though we were all still quite nude.  I did a little “tent hugging” if you know what I mean, just to keep things “safe”, and the lower “still, small voice” quite stilled, and small.  Gary was quite involved in the traditions of the shaman, and also became quite interested in the teachings of Joel Goldsmith, after I gave him one of Joel’s best books “A Parenthesis In Eternity”. Gary wrote the book “The Book Of Gentleness” which may have been “channeled” from his “still small voice” for God.  We became friends, and Sharon and I stayed in touch with Gary and his first wife Christy, for several years.  Times with Gary always revolved around meditation, journeying, and discussing “the voice of God” within each of us.  We went to Breitenbush together, while Christy was pregnant with Christopher, in 1995.  Sharon was present for the time immediately following the birth of Christopher (and helped with the cleanup), whose birth happened in their Canby home.  Alas, Gary and Christy were not to stay married.  Gary still had not quite worked through all of his own toxic masculinity, showing once again the need to directly address these issues, rather layer them over with the paint of peace and light.  Our hearts broke as he and his wife got divorced, shortly after Chris’ first birthday. We kept Gary in our lives, and made sure that he came to our holiday family gatherings with his son.  He got us involved in his run for the governor of the state of Oregon in 1998, which was a lot of fun.  He was to go on later in the decade, to form the Institute for World Peace.  He would travel with all of the spiritual greats of our age, including the Dalai Lama, and spent time in India hanging out with gurus, and helping with an orphanage. He brought a series of Nobel Peace Prize winners to Portland to speak to large audiences, so he walked his talk.   I loved him like a brother, yet we grew apart because of the different focuses for each of our lives. My wife Sharon has known June Thomas since the 1970’s when they were neighbors in southwest Portland. I have always loved June.  I have known June since 1990, when she was married to Victor (Victor died in 1996). We have spent many, many hours vacationing together, with several great hiking trips together, and one great rafting adventure through the Grand Canyon in 2014..  I sometimes had the feeling that June was some sort of spiritual sister of mine, perhaps a feminine variation of my soul, because we had so much in common.   I actually lived with June in her Tacoma home for four months in 2003, when I was relocated to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards for an electrical installation job where I helped to install a server farm for the US Navy. I would like to share an interesting dream that I had in May of 2016.   June,  who now lives in Tucson, Arizona was visiting her sick brother Dale in Medford, Oregon, for a week in May of 2016.  On a Friday evening in May, I awoke from a strange, disturbing dream.  In the dream, I had fallen in an unfamiliar bathroom, and had become trapped between the toilet and the wall.  When Sharon awoke, I told her about the unusual dream.  It was so real to me that I was a little shaken up.  Later that morning, June called Sharon, as she frequently does in the morning.  June related to Sharon that she was still at Dale’s house, and that his health was not good.  In the middle of the night, Dale had gone to the bathroom, fallen, and became trapped between the toilet and the wall!!! As I look at my life’s history, I am amazed by the dreams from its Mystery

June and Sharon in Las Vegas, 2017

While continuing in a loving relationship with Sharon, I joined with many communities of like-minded people, or continued my present participation in them, such as Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics, the Course In Miracles support groups, the Infinite Way, The Living Enrichment Center (LEC), with a very important men’s group experience that arose through my relationship with LEC, and The Empowerment Community with its many offshoot core groups.  Sharon and I became part of a “couple’s group” with two other couples, which became a 20 year affair, lasting all the way until August of 2017 (ending with the death of our dear friend, Marty). One Step Closer To You—By Michael Franti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEYgG7qOhXQ

2016 Cycle Oregon Tandem photo from Indian Mary campground

1997 Cycle Oregon gag photo, (yes that is Bruce in the comatose state)

One of our backpacking trips was to become quite a memorable experience for both Sharon and me.  I awoke one morning during the summer of 1992, and finished preparing to leave on a weekend hiking and camping trip with Sharon, up to the Mt. Adams Wilderness Area.  My senses were somehow heightened, and I felt as though I could see and hear better than I was accustomed to.  Food tasted better, the air carried many more scents, and my entire body felt alive with vitality, and sensation, well beyond what I was accustomed to experiencing in my day-to-day life.  I had to work that day, so I ignored my “extra sensory perception” for most of the work day, and I remained excited about joining with my beloved partner on a hike to Lookinglass Lake, which would end up becoming around a 10 mile hike, in one direction.

1993 Backpacking Trip Near Three Finger Jack

Our drive took longer than expected, and we arrived in the Wilderness area too late to reach the developed campground, so we parked for the night in a snow park area, and set up our tent to shelter for the evening.  We sat outside of the tent, and I began to experience, in its fullness, that “extrasensory perception” yet again, but much more profoundly this time. It was as if I had sensory receptors in the dirt, the sky, and the trees.  It was as if I had grown roots, so to speak. I not only could see the ground all around us, and the beautiful trees, and the sky, I could FEEL the ground, and it was as if I extended all the way through everywhere that I could see.  It was the experience, in a new form, of “all that I can see is myself”.  It was like I was “hearing” and “seeing” and “feeling” for all of nature that surrounded us, and it was a mystical, transcendental event.  My new body was the earth, the sky, the trees, the wind, the insects, and my human shell. We finally lay down for the evening in our tent, and though I was still quite profoundly experiencing this event, I was able to fall asleep beside my beloved.  Shortly afterward, I awoke to a great light enveloping our tent, and I arose to go outside to see what was happening.  In the sky appeared a Great Light, and the entire surrounding area was bathed in a light that totally eliminated all shadows, even though it was near midnight!  I awoke Sharon, who rose to witness the light.  To this day, I have no clue if the light is associated with my “heightened mystic awareness”, or if it was just a coincidence that a UFO would awaken us to bathe us in its radiance.  After we returned home, I told my mother about the light, and she reported that the week before, a mysterious light in the Mt Adams wilderness area was also reported, so who knows what was happening there? Looking back at my life’s history, I remain immersed in the light of its Mystery. In 1992, I was still in communication with my ex-wife, Donelle.  At this point, she was in the mental hospital at Fort Steilacoom, Washington.  She was committed yet again in 1990, and was languishing in there when I visited her.  This was the 3rd time I had visited her there.  She always had a shopping list for me to fill, invariably with some types of makeup.  She still liked to make herself look as pretty as possible, but the effects of the medication over the years on her had taken a horrible toll.  She was twice her normal weight, and she could not keep her food down consistently. The most beautiful woman who I had known from my youth was no longer that, and I was quite saddened, once again, to have to connect with her while she was so diseased.  The medication was quite the “double edged sword”, and had been for all of her adult life.    I don’t know what drug cocktails they were giving her this time, but they had the same conflicted end results.  (I now have little respect for the drug industry, or for a system that prescribes these drugs to people, rather than treating people in a more holistic manner). This particular weekend, my wife Sharon was running in the annual Hood to Coast relay race.  At this point in my life, I was not a runner, having hung up my running shoes in high school, and also having retired from recreational basketball in 1985 due to back problems. My only responsibility was to drive to Seaside to pick Sharon up at the end of her adventure, after my visit with Donelle.  I was quite down after my visit, and the drive to Seaside from Ft. Steilacoom was very dark, and subdued.

Sharon’s 1992 Hood To Coast friends, Partial team photo

When I started to enter the outskirts of Seaside, without even seeing one H2C (Hood To Coast) participant, I picked up on a new energy that just started “vibrating in the ethers”.   I came to name this energy “TEAMWORK” after the fact, not knowing what else to call it.  It was the energy of collective support, love, companionship, and goal achieving, and I had never known that as a youth, as I had never experienced that on grade or high school sports teams, of which I never qualified for.   It was like a beautiful “spell” had come over me, and I was totally captured by it! Running through my life’s history, I seem to have stumbled over a greater Mystery. Over the many years from 1971, through the present moment,  I have found that I am sensitive to crowd energy (a palpable form of collective consciousness), and I can “feel” the collective energy of several types of groups of people, and actually draw from it, and add to it if I am receptive to what is going on.  And, unfocused groups put off such diffuse energy that there is nothing special to tune in to, and I find little to attract me to such energy. Since there were over 12,000 runners and many more support people at the event, it is no wonder that a field was created in and around Seaside, the destination of the great world-famous event.  I became so impressed with the energy of the experience that I committed to running with Sharon, and I began to run with her several months later, so that the next year I could join her Hood To Coast team, the Sole Mates.

1994 Sole Mates Hood To Coast first van at Mt. Hood start. Back row-Sharon, Susan Leonti, Richard, Me, front row-Terry and Linda Jones

Seaside Finish Line for Sharon and Bruce

(note:  This experience led me to become one of the top local older runners in our area, culminating in way too many awards, and injuries, but also leading me into a deeper understanding of two of the darker forces predominant in male collective consciousness, which are excess competition and greed) It was the summer of 1993, and I had scheduled a 5-day retreat with Eileen Bowden and 20 other followers of the Infinite Way, a mystical healing path originated by Joel Goldsmith (died in 1964).  The retreat took place in Federal Way, Washington, at the Pacific Palisades retreat center overlooking the Puget Sound.  I spent the four days in silent contemplation and meditation, with several group talks given by Eileen over the course of the time period.

Announcement For Eileen Bowden’s workshop

Eileen Bowden, who lived in British Columbia, Canada, was a student of Joel Goldsmith, the originator of the Infinite Way.  Joel was a non-practicing Jew, and was led into Christian Science in the 20’s, while his father was on his death-bed.  Joel watched a Christian Science practitioner heal his father, and Joel caught fire with the possibilities for bringing spiritual healing to all of life (life that is receptive to healing, that is) because of this.  She was hand-picked by Joel to continue teaching the Infinite Way, as she “had the message”, meaning that she had achieved, or attained, the “Presence”.   She would enter into the sacred energy, and then give her unprepared talks (she spoke extemporaneously for at least 1 hour for each talk given).  Our role as “listeners” was to be in a sacred, meditative space, as well, so as to contribute to the total energy of the experience.   The result for me from this experience was that I was totally “involved” in the sacred energy of the Spirit, with the total quietness/stillness of my mind complemented by perfect peace, and joy.  I carried this energy for a full week after the experience. Awakening Part 4 (written in 1992-1993 time period) Perfection lies, behind all eyes, We, who would look within ourselves, will find, The Sublime Surprise, of which all Life does comprise, The Divine Self of all Mankind. We, who have made our choice, with one free voice, Call to our Eternal Source Supreme, We will no longer roam, we are coming Home, We are awakening from the “human” dream! With courage draught, from fear made naught, We move from temporal shadow to Eternal Light, The Kingdom sought becomes the Vision caught, Whosoever overcomes, now sees with unhindered sight! The Love All-Knowing, the Truth now showing, With Divinity, We walk hand in hand. In us its growing, through us its flowing, Embracing all between space and land. With Hearts entwined, One Soul Divine, To this world, We are a blessing immense. Though we pass this way for but a day, With Divine experience, who would dare dispense? The experience was somewhat perplexing to Sharon, as she wondered why I was having this profound experience, and why it continued on for so long.  She had many questions, but the perfect peace that I was experiencing was not ebbing, at least initially.  I had to return to work, as I worked for a living as an electrician.  At work, the energy continued to flow in its own unique way, but well into the work week I started to question the value of “enlightenment” when I still had to continue to work.  My co-workers were so out of touch with these things that I considered important, special, or sacred, and I could not quite get a handle on how this spiritual experience would have any value in the workplace.  I dared not speak about it, or show any type of behavior that would distinguish me from anybody else, and the dominating attitude for me was to “just blend in” as best I could. I had already cut way back on meditation with the beginning of my running career in 1993, and when the spiritual “energy” finally ebbed, I despaired a bit, and I felt a little awkward pursuing any deeper connection.  I had started questioning the value of a process that I was failing to integrate into the rest of my life.  There was nobody to blame but myself, but ever so gradually, my “over commitment” to my spiritual unfoldment began to ebb, as well.  But my love for my partner, Sharon, and for all of our shared friendships and family did not ebb, but continued to increase and enhance the quality of my life. July 30, 1994, Sharon and I had a “commitment ceremony” in our backyard.  We had over 75 people attend, including most of our immediate family, and many, many friends.  I had solidified in my own mind and heart the absolute value of my relationship with Sharon.  She came to represent to me integrity, honesty in communication, speaking from the heart, empowered divine feminine energy, compassion, service to others, and the celebration of our shared humanity at the highest level, of any person that I have ever met, even up to this very day.  I have made many mistakes in my life, but I celebrate every moment of every day my relationship with Sharon.  She is truly made in the image of the highest power in our universe.

Giving our vows, July 30, 1994 Eddy Brame (Crouch) officiating

Life Is Better With You, by Michael Franti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XEOVl875d0 The years 1995-2005 were dominated by employment for both Sharon and I.  Sharon, who is a nurse, became a manager for Legacy, and eventually became a hospice nurse for Providence.  I continued on my career as an electrician, occasionally accepting management roles.  This  also was the period that I focused on improving my running ability, as well as increasing my participation in our family environment.  Gradually, our huge circle of friends diminished during this period of time, and death started creeping into our awareness as important family members and friends starting passing away.  Losing my grandmother in 1995, and Victor Thomas in 1996 were two most troubling losses. In late 1987, I had a dream where I saw a ring with seven jewels on it, but it was missing its major stone, though the ring had a setting just waiting for the jewel to be inserted.  The missing jewel was much, much bigger than the seven stones.  What could this dream possibly mean?  I was engaged to be married to “woman number seven”, Laurie Hartmann, at the time, so to have this dream was disconcerting.  More was to be revealed at a much later time, when my future wife, Sharon, was to choose a ring for our second wedding in Las Vegas, in 2004.  Without any knowledge of my dream, Sharon proceeded to pick a ring at the original Mother Goose store with SEVEN SMALL STONES and ONE LARGE CENTRAL STONE.  She had picked out, without me being present or having ever told her about my dream, the EXACT ring from my dream.  I had forgotten about the dream, until I located a journal in August of 2018 that I had in storage since 1988. As I look at my history, I am surrounded by the “rings” of its Mystery.. Sharon retired from her career as a hospice nurse in early 2009, and wrote her first book, Whose Death is It Anyway, A Hospice Nurse Remembers Sharon helped me with the care of my father, Beryl, over the period of time after the death of my mother in 2009, though Dad’s death in September of 2017.  Sharon took over care of my aunt Susie, Dad’s sister, after the death of  her daughter, Sharyn, in August 2017.  Sharon continues to be an invaluable guide and aide for me as I walk down the challenging roads of family care for older members, and care for dying pets. On one of the other parts of the family front, Sharon and I had been in relationship with her nephew, David Gabbard, off and on for twenty-five years.  We lost touch with him in the early 1990’s, after he stopped by one day with his brother Jude at our Rock Creek duplex.  He disappeared for twenty years, then he showed up out of the blue in 2012. He was in a suicidal state, while also trying to get clean and sober.  He had lost his family, and I think that he was trying to parlay his relationship with Aunt Sharon into some way to convince his wife Penny, and his four children to accept him back into their lives.  He challenged Sharon and me with his diseased mind, but he did show some willingness to try to change and grow, in spite of his dual diagnosis (bipolar plus alcoholism).  Eventually, he was to reenter back into his family, and tried to include Penny and the four kids in a family relationship with us. Penny was friendly enough towards, us, yet was troubled by her own bouts of fear, insecurity, and depression.  The four children, save the youngest, Evey, were rather insecure and aloof, and often appeared and acted  uncomfortable being around us It was challenging for Sharon and I at times, but there were some tentative gains in starting a family relationship with his brood.  All too quickly, the resumed marriage collapsed again, and Sharon was drawn back into David and Penny’s drama.  David behaved very badly, becoming quite disruptive and angry, as can happen in these situations.  Penny and David separated, all the while we tried to stay in connection with both of them, but David assumed we were out to get him, cut both of us off, so we never spoke with him again.  Penny and the kids hung around for a little while afterwards, but when I tried to get Penny to talk about the disease and damage that her relationship with David caused, not only with her family, but with Sharon and myself, she shut me down for good, stating that she did not want to talk about family issues with me.  She was feeling too threatened by the Donald Trump phenomenon to discuss family issues, she stated to me. Penny’s female participation in the Conspiracy Of Silence has claimed another family of victims.  The “elephant in the living room” which Penny refused to talk about was sucking all of the oxygen out of our relationship, and I could tolerate no more silence around this family disease.  I choose not participate in the conspiracy of silence, and those who continue to unconsciously play by its self-destructive rules will not remain an active part of my life.  I told her that if we can’t talk about issues that affect our family health and well-being, we can’t continue to be a family under those terms, and I have never spoken with her or her children again, since February of 2017.  Sharon maintains minimal contact with Penny, and the oldest child Olivia.

Gaylon (David) and friend, at his birthday party in 1992 at our duplex

Sharon, Penny, Evey at Sharon’s 70th birthday Parachuting Experience

Sharon remains an inspiration to me.  She appears to get younger every year, and her outlook on life tends towards optimism, and she remains upbeat.  She is a “connector” to this day, and she reaches out to everybody that she can, in her attempt to be the voice for healing, love, and friendship in her world.  She continues to draw miracles into her life, and she has a special intuition, or inner knowledge, that allows for her to make connections with people who the “normal folk” of the world would never get to experience.  Sharon continues to be the “gem of greatest value” in my life, and her spirit sparkles with a brilliance unmatched by anyone that I have ever met. LOVE’S REUNION (poem by Bruce Paullin) I stumbled over the frozen wilderness for oh, so long! With a hole in my heart that life could just not fill Until I stopped to rest, and heard a gentle voice singing a long forgotten song That promised of my release from this winter world of painful chill Her lyrics spoke of the return of Life to freedom And the release of shivering minds from darkness’ frozen, fearful hands She drew me closer without any further verbal tethers And prepared me for the walk back to Love’s now awakening lands Her warming presence melted the icy hardness that I used to know Inspiring within me the courage, to myself and my world, to say That, to all of my past memories’ barren trees of lifeless knowledge, I now refuse to go I will now accept only the lessons learned along Love’s Infinite Way Yes, she met me while I was with the dark companion But it was to her pleasure to take me home to share her loving lights And give me the shelter of Love’s never setting summer sun She changed my cold mourning into happier, heavenly nights! By freely offering of herself and all of her sacred charms She moves me through life’s clamorous valleys unto its silent peaks I can now retire from a life of fruitless wanderings To live in the Source of Peace of which mankind forever seeks Her life is resplendent with Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty For these are the robes with which she clothes her being The gift of Love now unwraps before my inviting eyes To reveal her ecstatic vision, which is now all-seeing My search for Truth and Love Sublime has finally ended For, I now fill my empty cup from her joyous running streams I have reunited with my eternally fulfilling lover And, her healing waters dissolve all of my painful dreams I only seek to remain within her all-embracing arms While through all life she extends her ever unfolding surprise My first waking breath each morning brings the certainty That, from my bed, joined as one, we again shall arise My broken heart and shattered life is finally mending And, wedded to her life, I now call her my faithful bride Life no longer has a fearful road ahead to travel For, One with God, on Love’s lighted path, I now gratefully stride Sharon, it is the miracle of love that we share.  The “Michaelangelo Phenomenon” has had transformative effects upon both of us! I love you, Sharon.  You have always been the ONE. We are one, after all, you and I, Together we suffer, together exist, Together, forever We recreate each other —-Teilhard de Chardin