The Longest Ride

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

In 1973 lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman and composer Marvin Hamlisch wrote a haunting melody.......

Memories
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were

Ninety-one year old Ira Levinson is trapped inside his car on a snowy, remote country road having crashed his car hours earlier, hanging precariously over a steep embankment.  As day turns into night,  he realizes there is little hope he will be rescued-his weary body can't sustain life much longer.  Then his beloved Ruth appears urging him to find the will to live.  But how can that be?  She died nine years ago.  Yet there she is, and as Ira slips away, the memories of their life together, the joy and the pain, flood his mind.  Her love of art and teaching,  the dark, ominous days of World War II, and the tender love letters commemorating wedding anniversaries.  It all seems so real.

Sophia Danko hopes a night out with friends at the rodeo will help her forget former boyfriend Brian's infidelity.  Here she meets a cowboy named Luke Collins and is introduced to his life as a bull rider.  They make a most unlikely couple-she an art major hoping to start a promising career in a prestigious museum, he a rancher, struggling financially with his widowed mother, risking his life in a dangerous profession.  But the attraction is there and love grows.  Their lives become complicated and Luke must decide if it is time to reveal a secret.

Two couples worlds apart; years apart with little in common.  But fate will intervene and bring this love story of four strangers to a dramatic conclusion.

Once again, Nicholas Sparks writes a poignant, heart-wrenching novel which his readers have come to expect.  The author touches upon many themes-unfulfilled dreams and disappointments that shape our  lives. Aging-the reality that  not one of us will escape.  This harsh truth will envelope you with emotion.  Ira and Ruth's journey as lovers and friends is truly a gift to celebrate. Without trust, honesty, and friendship a relationship cannot survive.  And of course the circle of life is inevitable.

After all is said and done, the lucky ones have...

Precious memories...