The illness, the hair falling out, the ads for wrinkle creams and college degrees were all distractions. The melting of the icebergs, the appalling taxes, the ashtrays emptied at one's doorstep. The love was all. The love between neighbors, the love of old classmates, the love of the boy who rescued birds. The trust in the romance of life, the leaves twirling at our feet, the grasses glistening with dew; the briefest glimpse of those in our hearts would keep us in flight, in alignment with our purpose, and the rest was chaff that fell away along the path.