A tall, lanky, baseball playing, American boy and a small town, charming, Irish girl. Surely this is the stuff of epic romances and "P.S. I Love You" counterparts.

     "Dannnyull!!! Why are you hurting me? You're my boyfriend! You're supposed to love me!", cries an upset Lydia as Daniel tickles her feet on the couch of the "life room". Dan snorts back a laugh and gives a goofy grin that elicits another string of giggles.

    Mr. Daniel Brown is what one might call a philosophical Jimmy Stewart. Something over six feet tall with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, this former baseball player, though not a man of many words, generally means every word he says. After an hour long debate over socialism in America, during which I was flustered and floundered at every turn, I was told that Dan meant to be a lawyer before he decided to do a business degree. And surely, logic is one of Dan's most ardent love affairs. Last year Dan did the internship at Fisherwick and for many reasons, (dare I say a gorgeous Irish girlfriend amongst them?), stayed on this year as a youth worker for the Net, a college age Bible study group. Now Dan is getting his Masters in Religion from Union Theological College in Belfast.   

   Almost every day Dan will stumble down from his top floor room after seven or eight hours of Greek and Hebrew homework, rub his eyes, look melancholically out the window at the predictably rainy day, mutter something in Greek, then make some coffee and return to his turret of seclusion. But when a certain Miss comes around, Greek and Hebrew are most avidly chucked out the window for the much preferred study of Lydia.

   I think if a proper word could be found for Lydia it would be sparkly. Lydia is all of about 5'6" with chestnut hair, large blue eyes, and the most energetic disposition you've ever met in your life. This tiny bundle of athleticism and charm is only made more appealing by an enormous heart. Lydia is one of those people that can ask you the most pertinent, or perhaps, impertinent questions in the world and make you like her the better for it. Perhaps because of her simple, accepting love of people and an incredibly empathetic ear, most cannot escape pouring out their troubles, worries and cares upon this most understanding and lovely lady.

    

     At the moment Lydia is working for Clements, a coffee shop whose slogan is "We're religious about coffee", and brags some of the best "devil's cake" in town, paired, of course, with a heavenly cup of coffee. Lydia will often sigh a tiny bit when talking about her job. Don't get me wrong. She's thrilled to be working, but it is a bit hard with a college degree to have to take on a job at a coffee shop; (she majored in Sports Science). And yet, one can't help thinking that this might be the perfect job for her at this moment. Often, when people come into the shop after a long day at work or a rough exam, they are met by a hot cuppa and a welcoming smile, the likes of which only Lydia could give.

    

     No doubt, Dan and Lydia complete each other in a Tom Cruisy ("you complete me") way and they pull off the gorgeous couple look that would assuredly make Brangelina slightly jealous. But they also compliment each other's faith quite well. We shall see where the Dalydia saga shall take us next.