With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I remembered a love story I wrote in 2005 and published in the February edition of the Great South Bay Magazine.

“YES!”

TOP OF THE FIRE ISLAND LIGHT HOUSE – 1/1/2005

Glenn Forst works as a bartender at Captain Bill’s.  This is my idea of a four-star restaurant, nestled at the foot of Ocean Avenue, Bay Shore, Long Island, overlooking the Great South Bay and for many of us our own “Cheers.”  Glenn is truly an outstanding young man, who is awaiting appointment to the police academy.  One day last month, I noticed him huddled with Ed Mooney, an accomplished professional photographer, viewing pictures that he had recently snapped.  Glenn related the back story to me.

The beauty, isolation and serenity of Fire Island have become part of the lives of Glenn and his girlfriend, Tara DeLuca.  It didn’t seem unusual to Tara when Glenn suggested a tour of the lighthouse on New Year’s Day.  But master romantic that he is, Glenn planned every detail with precision and the secrecy surrounding “Operation Overlord.”  On December 26th, and New Year’s Eve, he implemented his subterfuge, with the help of a staff member.

New Year’s Day at 9:00 A.M., Glenn and the unsuspecting Tara parked at Robert Moses Field 5 and walked the scenic route to the lighthouse in full view of a number of grazing deer.  The day was unusually warm.  The sky was cloudless and a brilliant deep blue.  Glenn knocked on the door.  His accomplice, the staff member on duty, played his part to perfection: “I’m sorry.  We’re closed for New Year’s Day, but would you care for a cup of coffee?  I’ve just made a fresh pot.”  The smell was overwhelming.  He continued, “I’m sorry we don’t have a tour today, but I could actually use some help with the hatch.  If you wouldn’t mind going to the top with me, I could let you take a look outside.”

The three started their climb to the top on the spiral staircase, 17 stories above.  On the way up Tara asked Glenn, “Are you sure we can go outside?”  Glenn led the way.  She followed him out.  The breathtaking view was reflected in her eyes.  She relaxed her grip on his arm and moved to the lee side, overlooking the bay.  Glenn dropped to one knee and produced a small white box from his jacket pocket and asked, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she managed, before the first tear hit the landing and then she erupted with screams of joy.  Glenn led her back inside, popped the cork of the champagne, previously secreted, and toasted her, the ring now in place.  Ed, the other co-conspirator, appeared on cue and snapped pictures of the festivities and the happy couple.

Glenn later reflected, “I’ll never look at the lighthouse again without that magic ‘Yes’ ringing in my ears.”

The lighthouse is no longer performing its original function, but this treasure of the past is a constant reminder of our nautical heritage, and a fitting metaphor of the elements ahead for Glenn and Tara: endurance, purpose, strength and the ability to withstand heavy weather and age gracefully together.

George S.K. Rider

EPILOGUE:

It will be four years this July that Tara and Glenn got married.  I recently had the pleasure of hearing from them.  The couple moved up to Chenango Bridge, a small suburb of Binghamton, about 3 years ago.  Tara is working as a Physical Therapist and Glenn is with K-Sea Transportation as a mate on a tugboat in NY Harbor.  Glenn reports that, “Life is good up here, yet I still miss Fire Island and my folks in West Islip.”  They come down from time to time to visit.  No doubt, when they do, they return to the Fire Island lighthouse to savor and remember that very special day.