TO MELISSA LEIGH BAILEY

Two thousand miles was far enough;

We found that tragedy does not discriminate

And yet where pain pierces, there grace abounds,

Overflows, overthrows the plans we make.

The world before us, hand in hand we stride

Into a future neither one controls;

Yet hope sustains when you are by my side,

Covenant covers, creates, and consoles.

But to love is to limit our wand’ring

And yet to find ourselves at liberty

Blown by winds and yet rooted in one thing

That in giving we find ourselves most free.

The years they run fast, and time’s pace is swift.

Till the end you and I; each step a gift.