I forget when I first read Cyrano de Bergerac, but during my sophomore year in high school I gave the "No thank you" speech (in Act 2) in the state Catholic high school speech tournament. I was a lot like Cyrano, fiercely independent, and an incurable romantic. (I put that to the part of me of the Canadian French heritage.)
Anyway, when I was young I fell in love constantly, as boys-not-yet-young-men will do. And like Cyrano, I was willing to give away my heart, but had no confidence at all in my own lovability.
So over the decades many many women have passed through my life. Some have brought joy, some have brought trouble, but all have given me gifts from God, without which I wouldn't be exactly the same man today. (Maybe someday I'll put up a gallery of my past heart-throbs.)
Here are some women who right now are special to me. Some of them know it, some of them don't. To some of them I am important, to some of them (I suppose) I'm not. There are as many reasons they're special to me as there are women, because each one is herself, and has her own place in my life and in my heart.
They all need prayers (don't we all?!) , so I pray for them every day, and if you read this, I hope you will too.
The most important thing is that I am very grateful to each of these ladies, and ever so grateful to God for putting them in my life.
Here is another lady who is special to me and for whom I pray.
