It has been a tough week for both of us, in the days before the Christmas break, the stress of extra hours at work and the holiday traffic had taken a toll on Mrs. Anthony and me.

We were struggling to get things done.

Neither of us was in a particularly festive mood, and while I glowered at other motorists, she looked like she just wanted to go home.

The last stop on our agenda was to go to a store to look for some healthy gifts.

The new shops on 348th were close by and still a bit undiscovered, and we soon found ourselves in the parking lot of Super Supplements.

Inside, Mrs. A grabbed an arm basket and hit the lotion section while I shuffled over to the energy drink area.

I found a pick-me-up with ginseng and some other unpronounceable ingredients and then I heard her voice a couple of aisles away over the ka-ching of the cash register.

I figured she had run into one of her confederates, a like-minded pal who favors organic tea and vitamin C over Pepsi and sit-com TV.

I followed the sound until I found them. There in the face cream section, Mrs. A was chatting to a young black lady in a bright yellow jogging suit. I sauntered up with my energy drink and stood while the lady in yellow was in mid-sentence.

"...The more that people are hating, the more I know I have to be loving..." the Mrs. looked at me but the lady kept on.

"And we need to be real, lose the shield and be yourself."

I smiled and listened and the lady turned to me and grinned. She was holding a bottle of Dr. Bronner's "All-One-God-Faith" peppermint soap.

"I do my prayers and meditations every morning in the shower," she continued.

Back in the days when I first met my wife, I was an ironworker and lived in a log cabin on the outskirts of town.

I'd found a bottle of "Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Pure Castile Soap" at a health food store and was intrigued by its multiple uses.

In the tub after a long day of wire-tieing steel rebar, I would drink a beer and soak my bruised body and torn up hands in the Bronner's soap sud mix.

The labels provided interesting reading material, run-on sentences with hyphens joining more long strings of words, all crowded with exclamation marks and while they were rambling, even a little silly, they always made me smile.

"Absolute cleanliness is Godliness! Who else but God gave man Love that can spark mere dust to life! Poetry, uniting All-One! All Brave! All Life! Who else but God! "Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!" it exclaimed.

I saw Mrs. Anthony grinning as she listened to our new friend, who was also beaming and glowing in banana yellow Gore-tex.

I waited for a pause and said, "I like your jogging suit!"

She giggled and made a running motion and started in again, "Before you have to deal with something that's difficult, take a few moments to connect with the divine..."

I picked up a bottle of the soap from the shelf.

"..as teach the african shepard-astronomers Abraham & Israel, for 6000 years-since the year one: "Listen children eternal father eternally one!" We're one! All One!! Exceptions None, Absolutely None!!"

I let my thoughts fly over those first weeks with Mrs. A, when the excitement and hope of a new relationship made me feel giddy and do things I wouldn't normally do...like shave regularly and use cologne.

"A fire, a mist, a planet, a crystal and a cell; a jellyfish, a dinosaur, caves where cavemen dwell! Then, a sense for work-love-song-art-play-beauty, a face turned up from the sod! Sure, it's constructive-evolution, guided by One, ever-reacreating God! One almight, all-embracing, ever-loving, ever-evolving!"

I was still reading the bottle label when I heard Mrs. A bid her friend goodbye.

"Someone you know from work?" I asked.

"No, I've never met her before," she said. "She just walked up and started a conversation."

I looked around the corner to catch another glimpse of her but she was gone.

"Funny," Mrs. A smiled, "I think that was a message that I needed."

I was smiling too and didn't really know why, except that my mood was vastly improved. I looked at the bottle of soap in my hand.

"Towards which love's unfailing light shows clear the upward path to brotherhood-peace! Great tasks to nurture, with strength and knowledge happiness can last!"