View  across Tomales Bay from Inverness near the wreck of the ship  Point Reyes.

I have learned what it means to support someone’s dream, and I have benefitted from manifesting the sweetness of its fruit. Every place we ever traveled my husband would be so enamored by the beauty of that particular place he would declare, “We should buy a place here!” Washington State, Amsterdam, the Yucatan Peninsula, Australia,…each place so rich in beauty that he wanted to reside there. Initially I scoffed at such a foolish notion. We were ordinary people, not affluent enough to be vacation homeowners. I held a limited notion that since we owned a home, we should be content with what we had, not aspire for more. Dreams have a way of highlighting aspirations. Dreams can also be a test of relationship. One Memorial Day weekend I finally shifted the way that I held down his dream, and stepped gently into support and admiration. That change made all the difference in manifesting the dream, and literally overnight. As we passed a realty sandwich board in Point Reyes Station on a Sunday, he uttered his usual wish. In the pouring rain I walked over and picked up the real estate listing because I knew it would make his day. I wrote my name down on the realtor’s clipboard and assured her that we were not serious buyers, just looky-lous. On Tuesday she emailed me a listing for a quaint “teardown.” Within two months we renovated rather than tore it down and affectionately call it “The Cabin.” An hour north of San Francisco, along Tomales Bay, we now live in The Point Reyes National Seashore. Such a magical place! Every time we drive along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, I reach over and touch his arm and thank him for his dream. As I do this, I reach inside myself and appreciate what it means to stand for someone’s dreams,…especially my own.