A Love Story
When Lance Secretan’s soul mate, Tricia, passed away, he was brokenhearted. During the darkest days of his grief, he wondered how he could draw a message of hope and joy for others from his own sadness. Everyone admired, and was inspired by, Lance and Tricia’s happiness together and frequently asked them to share their secrets. Lance felt the world needed to hear from behind the scenes about their remarkable union.
Over the 30 glorious years of their partnership, Lance had written many poems for Tricia. Lance is best known for his expertise in leadership and as an advisor to leaders, not as a poet, so he was hesitant about sharing this private part of his life. Lance describes the arc of his and Tricia’s lifelong romance by wrapping the story of their journey together around 25 never-before-published poems. The result: A Love Story: An Intensely Personal Memoir, was released December 2015.
It is a beautifully designed book, crafted in the old-fashioned way, and the reviews—loaded with glowing praise—have been extraordinary.
This is a book that will inspire you, and be a welcome gift for your friends, who, as the dedication states, yearn for true love, have found it, or who are rediscovering it.
Listen to Lance reading a chapter and a poem
Listen to Colette Baron-Reid, (who's endorsement of A Love Story appears on the back cover) sing, "Fire and Rain", as a tribute to the message in the book.
An excerpt from A LOVE STORY
Wilderness Hiking
“Can you see a puppy chasing a ball in the clouds above us?”, Tricia asks as we lie on our backs in a meadow, miles from humanity. Thus begins a game that we repeat a million times. As we both get better at this, our skill at solving increasingly complex cloud-puzzles increases: “Do you see the Capricorn zodiac sign above the unicorn’s head?”
The wilderness calls to us both as if we were avatars temporarily visiting a modern, urban world. We love the smells, the sounds—and the silence, the vistas, the night skies, the lakes and rivers, and, of course, all our breathing, sentient friends.
There is a sacred connection between us, at all times, but especially when we are in the wilderness. We are totally dependent upon each other, looking out for each other, alerting each other to the sights and wonders we are experiencing, sharing sacred moments, and merging our joyful hearts in the solitude. We both have a sacred connection with the earth and everything around us. There is no need for either of us to explain to the other how we feel, as we are both in the same place. God’s hand is on our shoulder—we are one with the mystery that is called the Universe.
We collect rocks and sticks and feathers and turn them into works of art or ornaments. Some remain markers in the forest. Others we bring home. One day, we find a rock that is perfectly shaped like a heart, about the width of an outstretched hand. We place it against the base of a cedar tree that drapes over a river. We call this secret place “Heart Stone Rock,” and we visit there in the wilderness almost every day, pausing to meditate and share prayers of gratitude for all the gifts that have been bestowed on us both—the greatest of which is each other.
Our love for Mother Earth and nature is only topped by our love for each other. Our love is a game we both play and we both always win—like when we play tennis together—because we never bother to keep score.
Sylvan Solace
Adder’s-tongue beside coltsfoot,
The sultry perfume of dusk air,
Hedgerows proud with blackberry fruit,
Nature’s gifts everywhere.
Open skies of red’ning hues
A “V” of geese – instinctive flight
Feed my senses and my soul
With inner calm and light.
Foal protected by her mare,
Last poppies of the summer sway.
Close by, a hidden vixen’s lair
And castles made of hay.