Whispers of the Heart

After a long embrace, we said goodbye with a long kiss, and I headed to the airport to catch a plane for Germany where I would work as a lifeguard in an orphanage for the summer.  She was heading home to Puerto Rico; her dad was stationed at US Navy Southern Command airbase.  A long distance summer romance in the 60’s was tough, for we didn’t have the internet, phones calls were too expensive and complicated, and letters took 5-10 days to travel the 4,685 miles. 

The orphanage was near Heidelberg, in beautiful rolling hills and farm country.  My room was a long walk from the orphanage through a poppy field covered by tall grass and waves of crimson blooms.  The field became my refuge, a place to write, read her letters, and at night a place to lay under the dome of stars mesmerized by the orchestra of night sounds, dancing fireflies, and whispers of the heart.  A long distance romance, night sounds, and dancing fireflies taught me how to listen to the whispers of my heart.  Listen to the whispers of your heart today.