That Couple Named Weller

Some Anniverses

We’ve something to tell him and tell her
Our two dear friends, Sweller and Kweller

If bliss comes in bubbles
It comes, too, in couples —

Happy 14th to that couple named Weller

They fixed what was barely a cellar
And made it quite fit for a dweller

Clean driveway — no rubbles
Clean shaven — no stubbles

Clean living, that couple named Weller

Rick’s a good writer and speller
Sue, in design, an exceller

He’s constant (like Hubbel’s)
She’s blissful (no troubles)

A lighthouse, that couple named Weller

Prepare both your taster and smeller —
In baking of cookies, they’re stellar

From nibbles to gobbles
No quibbles or squabbles —

Pure sweetness, that couple named Weller

Pure knowledge: they’re knower and teller
Ignorance? They’re the dispeller

Looking for labels?
Among us, they’re fables

Great teachers, that couple named Weller

Are any two paths paralleler?
Any evolving pell-meller?

Good fortune dapples
These Michigan apples

Long life for that couple named Weller

Their future? Ask any foreteller
It’s brilliant — natural law the propeller

No wobbles or foibles
Just rubles for nobles

Health and wealth for that couple named Weller

So, Lighter of Lights and Bell Kneller
May their glory become interstellar

If bliss comes in bubbles
It comes, too, in couples

We adore that dear couple named Weller

ROYALTY

A flight of fancy inspired by the thought of Rick and Sue

Once upon a time there was a great kingdom, ruled by a great king and a great queen. The king was admired throughout the land for his wisdom, his compassion, his fairness, and, above all, for his friendliness. He inspired in everyone who knew him a deep sense of friendship. Even those who had not met the king considered him their friend and knew they could depend upon him for support. With every person in the land feeling such profound friendliness from the king and returning this feeling to him, they quite naturally enjoyed the same feeling toward each other.

They people loved the king, but they adored the queen. Together with the king, the queen had reigned for as long as people could remember. Yet each year she seemed only to grow more youthful and more beautiful. Visitors from afar often first mistook her for a princess, so young in years did she appear.

She loved her subjects, and they loved her. Never was a love more deeply felt or more innocently expressed as that exchanged between the queen and the people.

She had a delightful sense of humor. She loved to laugh, and whenever she laughed, which was often, everyone around her laughed too, and felt happy. She also loved to play. Agile of body and fleet of foot, she excelled at every kind of sport. When people saw her, they often felt that, with the mere intention to do so, she could fly.

Almost everyone described her as angelic. Some avowed that she actually was an angel, even a goddess, cloaked in human form.

The seat of the kingdom had long since been a place of pilgrimage. People travelled from all corners of the realm and from distant lands just to see the royal couple. Each day crowds gathered beneath their palace window. And each day they appeared and bestowed greetings on everyone. Even those who had travelled for weeks felt, after seeing them even for a few moments, that their journey had been abundantly rewarded.

For the queen’s part, she loved to travel, and often journeyed to the distant regions of the realm. Her arrival in a village was greeted with jubilation and cheering. When she departed and the cheering subsided, the people animatedly discussed her visit for weeks following, recounting her every word and gesture in exact detail. And when, at length, the discussions subsided, the people cherished in their hearts the lucid memory of her visit. Wherever she travelled, the day of her visit was celebrated each year thenceforth.

Their reign was marked by prosperity and success in all areas — in the arts and sciences, in commerce and trade, in education and scholarship. The harvests were abundant, the people vibrantly healthy and long-lived. Every other kingdom looked to this as a great and fast friend. Above all, a deep atmosphere of peace and happiness pervaded every sphere of life. The kingdom was a land of happiness and harmony. From horizon to horizon, everyone in the land felt himself to be part of one family. They lived and worked together in perfect concert. It was a golden age, and everyone knew it. Everyone knew that they were living in Heaven.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the source of this great fortune: the king and queen. Highly intelligent and endowed with radiant intellects, they took part actively in affairs of state. But were they to cease these activities, nothing would change — for it was their mere being that so inspired the people. The mere knowledge of their presence created happiness and harmony throughout the land. Every person felt their presence at the heart of every thought and feeling.

Every year, on their birthdays, the king and queen were celebrated throughout the kingdom. Their birthdays marked the most glorious and festive celebrations of the year. They had ruled, it seemed, forever. No one could recall a time when they had not reigned, nor could anyone imagine a time when they would cease to reign. And the people always wished them a happy birthday, for in wishing this, they were ensuring themselves continued happiness, and prosperity, and peace, and Heaven.

May 17, 1990