They stepped from the rock back to the land. They were overflowing with happy energy. They sat on the ground for a moment as he showed her the ring and put it on her finger. She held her hand toward the sky and admired the ring sparkling in the sunset. He stood up then picked her up, lifted her off the ground and turned in circles. As he turned her around, he saw the pink sky over the lake, then the white full moon between the tall pine trees. The young couple's whole life was before them. Their future together and a lifetime of excitement and happiness was ahead. They had nothing to worry about and everything to look forward to. Everything -- their careers, their marriage, their children -- everything was before them. They were happy and carefree. They celebrated until darkness fell over the lake.

The couple took an exciting path through life: They enjoyed five of the Six Ultimate Gifts to man. They loved their work, sharing their goals, and they loved each other. Their happiness grew. Their love for each other deepened. But as their happiness grew and their love deepened, life passed by in a flash. They felt the unjust irony -- life for the happy person bringing exciting values to mankind passed quickly. Yet, for the stagnated person, time was a burden. Time passed slowly. For the happy couple, time was a precious gift. Fifty years passed quickly.

After fifty years, they went back to the same little cove on the mountain lake. The moment was so special fifty years ago that the cove became a permanent photograph in their minds. Now, everything looked the same. They stepped on the rock. The only sound was the water cradling the rock. They smelled the pine and felt the crisp autumn air as the sun set over the lake. They remembered. At this moment he had asked her to marry him. They looked at each other. Their eyes filled with tears of sadness as they reached out to hold each other. She touched his face and turned it gently so he saw the fiery sunset.

As they stood there, all the beauty around them was the same...except this time everything in life was not before them. Their careers, their marriage, their children...that was now all behind them. This time, they were quiet and did not celebrate. Life was too short. They felt so happy last time with all life to experience in front of them. But now their lives were practically over...over in a flash. All that happiness they felt last time for what was to come had already come and gone. That happiness felt last time now turned to sadness. For nearly all life was now behind them. And their love for each other would in a few short years be lost to death.

They stood on the rock and looked at each other. They said nothing. They held each other. Then they walked over to where they had celebrated and remembered their carefree happiness. Without saying a word, she pulled off her ring and gently placed it in his hand. They both looked at it, sparkling in the sunset as it did fifty years ago. He looked into her eyes and slid it on her finger again. Then he held her hand and told her he loved her more than the day he first put that ring on her finger. His voice shook as he told her. He gasped and looked up for a moment and saw the moon between the pines as he did fifty years ago.

The more they remembered, the more they felt sadness. They hugged, and then they held each other for a long time. They knew these moments were precious, for they would not have each other much longer. They watched the sunset and remembered. Darkness fell over the lake.

A few years later, the man came back alone one evening. His wife had died. For the first time, he stood alone on the rock. He was overcome by feelings. Just yesterday, it seemed, his wife was here with him as they looked into each other's eyes and held each other in reassurance. He could see her still standing there in front of him. He reached out to touch her hair. She was not there. He began to weep and to remember. He remembered when he put his hands on her shoulders and asked her to marry him. He remembered her eyes and her expression. He remembered how she tilted her head slightly as her eyes filled with tears. ...Oh, he needed her now. He felt so empty as the water cradled the rock.

He stepped off the rock and onto the land. He suddenly looked behind him, as if to find his wife there with him after all. If only he could hold her one more time! The pain while remembering the last time here, when he held her hand and told her he loved her, now became unbearable. To momentarily escape the pain, his thoughts jumped back to the time they once celebrated life still before them, over fifty years ago. It seemed like just a short time ago -- they laughed and cried and celebrated. He walked over to where they had celebrated. He turned slowly in circles as he remembered lifting her and turning her in circles in their celebration. As he turned, he saw the sunset; he saw the moon between the pines. He stopped turning. He remembered. He sat on the ground where they once sat as he first slid the ring on her finger. Suddenly the sweet celebration became crushed with the knowledge that she was gone, forever. He looked at the sunset. He remembered the last time when they watched this sunset together. ...She would never see another sunset. Darkness fell over the lake.

He did not leave this time. He sat there in the dark. He remembered every moment of when they shared this cove one last time together. He remembered how precious those moments were. He kept on remembering. He remembered first his most recent memories with his wife; then his memories traveled back over the years. He relived in his mind every special moment with her throughout all the years. Several hours later, physically paralyzed by his thoughts, he had remembered all the special moments back to the moment he stood up from the very spot where he now sat, lifted her and turned her in circles as they celebrated a whole life still to come together...their wonderful lives ahead, which he just spent the last several hours remembering, moment by moment. Those special moments that he remembered tonight were what they were celebrating for over fifty years ago...for a wonderful lifetime in anticipation. Suddenly he began to cry loudly. "It's all over!" he yelled into the darkness.

The sunrise caught the old man still paralyzed in his memories. He finally stood up to leave. He was weary. His heart ached as he recalled that the last time he stood up from this spot, he was overflowing with energy and happiness as he lifted her and turned her around...and that the last time he stood here was a few years ago when he told her how much he loved her. He looked at the cove in the morning light. He looked for a long time. He looked at the pines, at the land where they celebrated, at the lake, the sky...and then he looked at the rock and listened as the water cradled it. Tears fell from his eyes. It was hard to turn away. He knew he would never again see this place that had meant so much to his life. ...He was saying good-bye, forever.

The old man tried to go on with his goals. But he and his wife had always worked together. Going back to his desk, pulling out work that she had worked on with him, reaching for goals that she had reached for with him...caused deep pain. Working toward those goals without her now tore his heart. They both loved their work and their goals. But now the work and those goals devastated him with hurt. He kept remembering her and how she had loved their goals. When he walked into his home office, he became filled with the pain of losing her. He could not work without her presence. He spent all day working on something that before, with her, took him less than an hour. His mind slipped back into memories of her all day long. He emotionally could not achieve their goals without her. For, every forward movement toward those goals made the loss of her more painful.

He struggled forward for two more painful years. He accomplished little, then died. ...The water still cradles the rock in the cove. The sun sets over the lake and the moon shines between the pine trees. But he will never see that again.