"Jen, I can't thank you enough, for... for... everything," I whisperedin her ear as I hugged her. I mean this was the girl that had stood byme, no mat...er how bad things had ever gotten. She was the one thatpulled me out of my depression, days before I was going to end it. Shewas who was with me as I took each tentative step towards being me.Through her actions I was able to reconcile with my parents, who hadhelped me to find friends who were going to stand by me. Friends whowere going to stand. "Are you twins?" I asked hesitantly, aware I was getting into dangerous territory with ladies ages."Yes," said Mary. "Though not identical."We chatted for a while, I filling them in with my details as well as the local highlights, they with theirs.Eventually I heard Paula and Kerry arrive back and waved them over and the conversation started into families and events until we left to have dinner."I like them," said Paula."Me too," I replied."Pair of them giving you the eye though," said Paula,. “We talked, really talked, Pete. And I got to really know the man. We talked about his pain, his loneliness. How he’d felt his heart break in two, watching his wife suffer and then leave him alone, to care for the children they loved.”And I could see just a few tears in this loving woman’s eyes as it all came back to her, the pain she’d listened to and shared. Through those tears, she forced herself to complete the story. “And then when he talked about that alone-ness, not being with a woman in. “We need to make them listen then,” Sean told her.“How?” Tara asked. “All they want to do is argue.”“A freeze spell to keep them in their chairs, and then a silence spell to keep them quiet,” I informed her.“I thought spells weren’t supposed to be used!” Gale said in surprise.“Something has to be done,” Sara told her. “These assholes will argue until the Eternal Flame runs out of energy if we allow them to. WE need to make them see the light!”“We’ll cast the spells when the conference resumes,.