A short description for those who don't yet know.

We can thank the internet. OK, we didn't meet on-line. But we did meet thanks to YPK which we found on the web.

Jeanne was doing some research on Judaism to help explore her roots and get back to basics. Hillel was looking for a reference to the name "Hillel" that he could use on his web-site to help explain its meaning.

And so, it came to pass that independent of one another, they each happened upon the people YPK in the virtual land of Net. J

In college, both of us were "brothers" in Alpha Phi Omega, the National Service Fraternity whose tenets are Leadership, Friendship and Service. By yet another coincidence (or divine design?), YPK's precepts are Leadership, Socializing, Social Action/Community Service, and Religion for young Jewish professionals.

And we met on a farm.

OK, how and where does the farm come in? It's like this:

YPK, and the Beth El Hebrew Congregation with which they are affiliated, facilitated a service project called "Gleaning for the Hungry". We gleaned green and red bell peppers from a local farm's crop. The harvest had already gone through. For reasons of time, labor, ripeness or lack of thoroughness, there were many peppers ripe for the picking left behind. The farm was preparing to till the soil over for the next crop. The truckload of peppers we picked that day (i.e. "gleaned") were sent to local soup kitchens and shelters instead of becoming fertillizer for the next crop.

"Oh, so you met picking peppers."

Yes, but it's not that easy.

Those of you who know Jeanne probably know that she tends to sing or whistle while she works. She's also relatively outgoing and defnitely not shy about expressing herself musically. So now, Jeanne and Hillel were picking peppers a few rows of crop away from one another and were somewhat alone in their corner of the field. At some point, Hillel hears what sounds like gospel singing. (In a field of Jews, mind you.) And the first thing he announces for anyone within earshot is, "Do you hear gospel music?" No one answers. He writes it off as coming from the truck driven by the local church liaison to the project. Some time goes by and this time he's convinced that it's not coming from the truck (it had left the area). Looking at the nearest person (guess who) he asks, "Do you hear gospel music?" Not really singing "gospel" music, Jeanne, the music major, respnds innocently "No, I don't hear any gospel music." After another minute or so of the continuing music, Hillel, now looking incredulously at Jeanne asks, "Are you singing?" Jeanne impishly says, "Oh, yeah, uh, that would be me." "What are you singing?" Hillel asks. "If I Had a Hammer" Jeanne smirks. "If I Had a Hammer?" Hillel repeats amusedly... "A gospel version?"

Jeanne went on to explain that she was in a musical at the time and that's how the group was singing the song... From there their conversations covered many topics revealing many common interests and values. And the rest, as they say, is history....