Like the characters in “Chocolat”, a strange wind blew us into Chicago and swirled us with the golden leaves through Lincoln Park depositing us in a fairy tale neighborhood of brownstone row houses not far from the University.

The kids cooking with Shawn & Lucy

Lucy is one of the most elegant young ladies we have the privilege to call our friend. Wrapped in a mustard yellow shawl she met the children’s bouncy hugs with grace and her signature dazzling white smile. We met Lucy in Vienna. We heard her before we saw her, to be precise. She sat behind us in the oldest Lutheran church in the city and sang the hymns in a clarion soprano that was so beautiful that I forgot to sing. By the second week, I had to know her, so we invited her to lunch. We ate in a little cafe on the main square in Vienna, just down from the cathedral. We felt badly when we realized that she was vegetarian, which meant that she had one viable option on the menu. Being Lucy, she cheerfully ordered it and we spent a happy hour trading stories and learning about opera. We took pictures in the rain on the square and parted ways with no expectation of seeing one another again.

The west wind blew Miss Lucy toward Boston this spring and we spent a lovely day sharing swan boats and pastries, getting to know her fiance, Shawn. The east wind blew us through Chicago and we had the privilege of sharing a meal in the tiny one bedroom apartment in Lincoln Park that they call home.

Sweet Mandy B's...can you say "sugar high?"

A more gracious pair you’ve never met. Mr. Shawn is a composer (shawnjaeger.com) and the perfect compliment to Miss Lucy’s voice. They walked us around the corner and treated the children to massive cookies at their favorite sweet shop, “Sweet Mandy B’s.” They’d purchased three pumpkins for the children to carve and even roasted the seeds while dinner cooked. Sean patiently taught Ezra to chop peppers and then slyly finished the job when Ez was “done.” Miss Lucy, in her quaint 1950’s style pink apron with brown flowers appliqued next to the cream colored pocket whipped up a three course meal of gourmet cheese pasta (with the most heavenly peppers you’ve ever tasted) salad with pomegranate seeds and chevre, and a butternut squash soup that all of the children had seconds of… all vegetarian, and organic, of course! After dinner we were treated to a family concert of piano and voice duets and the rare treat of Shawn’s own compositions, which are award winning and fascinating.

The skyline of Chicago is postcard perfect, illuminated against a black sky. We’re rolling south with a dozen of Lucy’s pumpkin muffins and a pint jar of the kids’ roasted, salted pumpkin seeds as a parting gift. I never cease to be amazed by the ways that seemingly unrelated lives can be woven together into the tapestry of a lifetime. I’m so thankful that we never see it coming, it would spoil half the fun. We probably won’t make it back in June for their wedding, but that’s okay. The wind will blow some other time and Shawn and Lucy will materialize on our doorstep, or we on theirs, with leaves in our hair and new songs to share.