In August, 2023, I traveled to Cornwall in England to visit St. Mawes, a tiny town where my sister and I spent the summer of 1966 with my grandparents.

I was by myself and I wished I had someone I could share my memories with.

I had that thought while standing at a farmer’s market where I had just bought two bottles of hot sauce.

Within seconds, a young woman approached me and began talking. I commented on an amazing tattoo of an Eagle on her midriff. It was an illustration for a poem called The Eagle by Lord Tennyson.

Her name was Hephzibah Hermione Elizabeth Maia Sashenka Phoebe Colquhoun.

We hit it off immediately. We spent the entire day together. She was like an answer to a prayer.

Only at the end of the day did I learn that she thought I was a vendor and wasn’t merely a customer. Once we began talking, she forgot all about buying hot sauce for herself.

So, I gave her one of my bottles.

In the morning I could not have told you why I bought two bottles, but by the end of the day I had my answer.

Here is a recording of a half hour of that magical day we spent together.