September love

They met when the flush of youth was well passed. She, a divorced mother of three, had recently left a twenty-five year career to take on the leadership of a flagging non-profit. He, some five years her junior, was ambitious and hardworking and had never married.

It was September. They were attending different conferences in the same hotel. He was an entrepreneur of international repute. She was the force behind the growth and development of a not-for-profit. Decompressing after a long day of seminars, they met at the hotel bar.

"From the gentleman," the bartender said, placing a second glass of chardonnay in front of her. She looked towards the man in question ready to reject the gift.

She did not.

Nor did she smile though she couldn’t look away. Later, they would both say they felt an immediate connection, electric, visceral. Conversation ensued and the connection was confirmed to be absolute, all-encompassing.

They happily discovered they hailed from the same city. She canceled her flight to fly home with him.

They became as inseparable as busy movers and shakers can be. Every week, they made a point to spend one full day together: hiking; visiting museums; attending classical music concerts and the ballet; going to plays and comedy shows; taking classes to try new things like glass-making and cake decorating; trying new dishes - they were both skilled in the kitchen and took pleasure in introducing each other to the cuisines of the world, but they were not averse to dinner out in any of the myriad restaurants of their shared city. When schedules permitted, one would accompany the other on business trips near and far.

Life was good.

A year to the day, he proposed at the end of a hike, having organized a small chamber orchestra to be awaiting them when they reached the summit. With the sounds of Vivaldi wafting in the cool fall air, surrounded by nature beginning to burst with the colors of fall and the river below rushing past, he knelt and placed an exquisite diamond with a gold, infinity band upon her finger.

They set a date for one year.

The next six months were a joy-filled whirlwind of activity-work and wedding planning. However, the results of a routine physical and extensive bloodwork interrupted the joy, piercing, no breaking, two hearts irrevocably.

She never left his side during his short battle with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.

She buried him the day that would have been their wedding day.