Charles Berner was raised in Tucson by loving parents who died about the time he finished high school. With no family and not much money he moved to Flagstaff where he bought a small ranch. His effort failed for lack of experience and he sold everything but his cabin to a neighbor. Charles hired himself to that rancher as a cowboy where he worked for the next fifty or so years. But Charles wasn't destined to be a lonely cowboy. One night a lovely Native American woman came to him in a dream. Later she showed up as a real person and would stay with him from time to time. He fell in love with her as deeply and as profoundly as his pure young heart demanded that he should. For more than twenty years she would appear and stay with him for a while then disappear as mysteriously as she appeared. They were very much in love but she would never tell him much about herself. He only knew her as Lisa. Then her visits stopped. When he had time to be away from his job he would search for her. For years and years he searched without finding her anywhere. In his travels he made friends all over Arizona with his gentle goodness and western manners. Charles retired from ranching sometime in his late sixties. She had not visited him for more than thirty years but he still looked for her. Because he had given Lisa his heart as a young man he never tried to find another woman. He always thought she would show up one day so he always expected her. Charles was waiting for the start of a community lecture one day in the lobby of a hotel ballroom in Phoenix when she walked in. However the girl he saw there was still a young woman. She felt him staring at her and decided to find out why. When she approached he introduced himself and apologized for staring but, he told her, she reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago. What follows is a story of love and discovery for two unique but lonely people. Charles was to be as surprised as Lisa about how it all turned out.
About the Author: Fred Rollins is a retired metallurgical engineer living in Texas. Born in Texas and raised on a farm and ranch he gained experience in many things. Fred joined the Army when he was 19 and after his active duty period returned to study engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso. After graduation and for the next 56 years Fred worked as a Metallurgical and Materials engineer. Fred has worked in mining, material studies for NASA, weapons testing, telecommunications, subdivision and commercial structures planning and construction and metallurgical failure analysis. Fred is deeply spiritual and has an abiding faith in the Creator of all things.