No book, no marriage - Page 20

It's odd to remember the small things in the big moments – the place you stood, the look on someone's face. But that is exactly what I have been doing this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's Dispatch.

Because Grace really insists that I am missing out on a good story by having never actually organized the story of how we met into anything of substance. And I am greatly reminded, upon typing that sentence (this is why I am not feeling guilty about typing a Page instead of handwriting it!), of Henry Beston.

In the modern written introduction to his peak work The Outermost House, which is credited by the National Park Service as the reason for the creation of Cape Cod National Seashore, there is a note (here copied from Wikipedia) about the making of the book:

Beston finally left the "Fo'castle" in September 1927. He returned to his native hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts, and proposed marriage to writer Elizabeth Coatsworth. The couple had a long courtship period, but when Coatsworth saw that he had many notes but no manuscript from his stay on the beach, she said, "No book, no marriage."

The manuscript was completed by April 1928, and The Outermost House was published in October 1928. Beston and Coatsworth were married in June 1929 [...]

The power of marriage – truly impressive. Anyways, I am quite proud of this series. Tomorrow's email is the first of a few, and I hope it gives you both the courage to embark on the journey that is in front of you and the faith to know that the call of adventure is broad and given to us all, in many shapes and sizes.

See you tomorrow,

Bryce C