The Sacred Ordinary: When Love Becomes Home

Dave and I have been traveling separately recently. He’s been in Seattle visiting his kids, while I’ve been in Ohio spending time with my son, daughter-in-law, and our new grandbaby.

On this last trip, he left home a few days before I did, which meant I had several nights alone in our bed.

I noticed something.

I wasn’t sleeping quite as deeply or peacefully as usual.

Over the years, I’ve grown accustomed to Dave’s arm around my waist and a hand resting gently against the back of my neck.

Sometimes I’ll wake in the middle of the night with my mind spinning about something. But then I’ll feel his hand against my neck or his arm around me, and something remarkable happens.

My thoughts quiet. My body relaxes. And usually, within moments, I’m drifting back to sleep.

I hadn’t fully appreciated how much those simple gestures meant to me until they weren’t there.

And somewhere in those nights apart, a new song began to take shape.

Melding Souls: When Love Becomes a Place of Rest

Lately, I’ve been experimenting with a new genre of music—Jazz Noir. I love its nostalgic, sometimes melancholy quality. It can be soulful, intimate, and wonderfully romantic. And I’ve always loved the sound of a saxophone!

My newest song, Melding Souls, grew out of those quiet nights without Dave beside me.

It’s about the oneness and peace that can develop when two people build deep trust over time. A connection so familiar that words aren’t always necessary.

There’s something fascinating about the way our bodies respond to the touch of someone we love and trust. Affectionate touch can help calm our nervous systems, ease stress, and even influence physiological responses such as heart rate and blood pressure.

But beyond the science, there’s something sacred about it.

A hand resting against the back of my neck. An arm wrapped around my waist. Such ordinary gestures, yet they communicate something profound.

You’re loved. You’re safe. You can rest.

That’s what I wanted to capture in Melding Souls.

Chattanooga Nights: Remembering Where It All Began

Dave and I will celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary in February. Perhaps it’s that approaching milestone, combined with the nostalgia of Jazz Noir, that has me looking back on how our journey began.

Back in 2017, Dave and I met online. About a month later, he flew into Chattanooga so we could finally meet in person.

After grabbing a bite to eat at a Waffle House in Soddy-Daisy—the only thing open that late at night—we headed downtown for a walk along the Tennessee River.

We walked and talked for hours.

Eventually, we stopped at a park bench outside the Tennessee Aquarium. There, beneath the moonlight, we played one of our mutually favorite songs and danced together beside the river.

It was one of those magical moments that stays with you.

Chattanooga Nights tells that story in song.

I used to write romance novels, and I’ve discovered that this Jazz Noir genre gives me a new creative outlet for that romantic storyteller within me. Only now, instead of imagining fictional love stories, I’m capturing scenes from my own life and setting them to music.

I hope you enjoy Chattanooga Nights.

From First Sparks to Something Deeper

Looking back on that night beside the Tennessee River, I think about how little we knew of the journey ahead.

We were just beginning to discover each other. We couldn’t have known all the joys, challenges, accomplishments, and heartaches we would share in the years to come.

And yet, somewhere along the way, those early sparks of romance grew into something deeper.

The excitement of discovering someone new became the comfort of knowing someone intimately. The thrill of a first touch became the quiet reassurance of a familiar hand.

I think it’s important to remember how a romance begins, but perhaps it’s even more important to recognize the depths to which it has grown through time and shared experiences.

Sometimes the most sacred things in our lives are also the most ordinary. We become so accustomed to them that we hardly notice their presence—until, for a little while, they’re missing.

Maybe the greatest romance isn’t found in the first kiss or the first flutter of attraction.

Maybe it’s found years later, when a familiar hand reaches for yours and you realize that, somewhere along the way, two separate lives have become a shared home.

And two souls, in their own beautiful way, have begun to meld.