Michael Allen Harrison was my first true love. The man I wanted to marry and did.

We had come from distinctly different backgrounds and had grown up in opposite parts of the country, but against all odds, we fell in love and got married. Like any young couple, we had dreams of a promising future and visualized growing old together happily ever after.

The road was rocky from the very beginning though, and as a starry-eyed young woman, I was unprepared for Mike's detachment, withdrawal, and heightened need for solitude. He offered no excuses for his aloofness, nor did he offer any explanation. Although I prayed hard that everything would work out, it didn't.

I never stopped thinking about him though and never stopped loving him.

This is the story of a young man and a young woman who remained divided as they grew into an older man and an older woman, yet, ultimately, it was that very division that motivated them to search for one another.

Fast forward forty-two years--my hands shook as I read his email. Could this really be happening?

Never underestimate the power of love or walk away from a door that God has opened.