A Little Romance

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved the beach. In particular, she loved one pristine and lonely stretch of white sand edging the wild and craggy Pacific coastline of Northern California.

When she was young and believed in such things, she'd wander for hours, watching the waves roll in and thinking, someday, I'll marry my heart's true love, right here. She imagined it would be sunset in summertime; they'd be barefoot so that at the ceremony's end, they could walk hand in hand into the water, to let the waves wash over their feet and bless the beginning of their new journey. She'd stand alone, letting the tide tickle her toes, dreaming that someday, she stand here again - no longer alone.

When the girl was in highschool, she shared her dream with her best friend, who humored the girl even as she scoffed inside. What the best friend didn't know - indeed, what the girl had yet to discover herself - was that the girl was a witch.

After college, the fledgling witch visited the beach again. This time, she cast a spell. Not on anyone specific, because she knew that was unwise and, morever, she believed she'd not yet met the person of her dreams. She offered roses to the sea - red for passion, yellow for friendship, pink for kindness, white for fidelity. She asked to the chance to meet her heart's true love, for him to be sent to her so they might start their life together. She stood well above the tide line to write her sigils in the sand, then she opened herself to the power without and within. She called on Lady Ocean, invoking her with powerful names long linked with love and beauty - Aphrodite, Venus, Yemaya. She expected to sit, to keep vigil until the spell was washed away, but before she could finish her incantation and open her eyes, there was a crash and water swept around her, soaking her to her knees and carrying the spell out to sea. She threw her arms in the air and laughed. The spell would work. She'd never been more certain of anything in her life.

And she was right.

Two weeks later, she drank too much Jagermeister at a theatre cast party and - in a completely unexpected and rather alarming development - was shocked to find herself making out with one of her new roomates. She'd known him for over a year but had never looked at him as anything more than a friend - even though he was a total hottie. After all, he was was four years younger than her worldly 23, a nineteen-year-old kid just starting college.

But, in the way of magic, the witch had little control over the end results of her spell. So they fell in love, and ended up living together - not just as roomates - for several years, taking many vacations to her favorite beach. Then one Summer Solstice, the witch and her true love stood barefoot on that sand and pledged themselves to one another. It was sunset, and when the ceremony was over, they walked into the waves together so the sea could bless their new beginnings.

At the dinner that night, her highschool best friend made a toast. She said she'd heard for years that the girl would get married on just that beach, in just that way. She'd never believed it, but she'd been happily proven wrong.

That toast was made fifteen years ago today, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the witch and her true love still walk that beach hand in hand every year. Their life together hasn't been perfect or effortless, but they're even more deeply in love now than they were back then. They're also best friends, trusted partners and the parents of two wonderful, creative boys. They don't drink Jagermeister anymore, but have been known to tote a nice bottle of wine or bubbly down to their beach on occasion, in celebration of what was, what is, and what shall be.

Someday they hope to retire in the nearby town, so they can take long walks and watch many more sunsets there togther. And that's one happily ever after I can totally believe in. After all, it's mine to co-create.