With these words, delivered beautifully by Joie Lenz, Michelle made an irrevers-ible move ... a no-turning back, no-holds barred, risk everything, all or nothing, move that signified the depth of her love for Daniel Santos. And it meant much more than his offer to give up his way of life for her.

Although his was a great gesture of love, ultimately, as proven by the events that followed, it could only be a gesture and one that had no place in reality. It was a dream, a beautiful dream, and in the minds of Danny and Michelle, it was the only way they could feasibly be together, which is why they both held on so long to that dream. But, it was only a dream.

With Michelle's words -- "You belong with your family. And I belong with you. Right? Till death do us part, Danny. Till death do us part."-- She accepted the only true way that they could be together. And she made her own gesture of love, but hers was one that was based in reality ... including the fear, the pain and all of the little, very un-dreamlike realities that exist therein.

Danny's offer to give up everything and live in her suburban world was a sacrifice. However, it was one that would have offered him a safe, law-abiding existence with the only excitement in life resulting from his relationship with her, instead of dealing with blood money, death threats and operating outside of the law. Michelle's sacrifice does the opposite -- she must trade in her life of security and shelter for one that deals in death every day. Her statement -- and unlike Danny's, it was a statement of fact, not an offer, this is what would happen -- is a whole different ball field. Hell, it's practically a different game.

Michelle is giving up safety, she is giving up not only life within legal limits -- she is giving up the entire foundation upon which her existence has been built upon for one that is dangerous, deadly and could very well result in her death at any given moment. Essentially, she is giving up her life to simply be the wife of Daniel Santos.

Michelle will be a Mafia bride in every way and I sincerely doubt that we will see a Dr. Bauer-Santos striding along the corridors of Springfield's hospital anytime in the foreseeable future. Her world will revolve around protecting her husband and his family -- including the mother-in-law from hell -- from the eyes and wrath of the law. She will lie to her brother, her father (if he ever shows his face in Springfield again), her friends and family to keep the illegal Santos secrets guarded.

As mother to his children, she will protect them from the truth as long as she can and when the truth at last comes out, she will have to explain to them the reality of their lives and why they must live this way. She will have to put aside every tightly held tenet of morality that she has been raised with in order to stand by her husband's side.

And what happens when Danny does become the head of the family? What happens when he is in the situation where he will have to order a hit, or actually perform one himself? Michelle, with her words, has already condoned any actions that Danny may have to undertake as a member of a crime family. And she has accepted whatever those actions may be by standing by his side.

"You belong with your family. And I belong with you. Right? Till death do us part, Danny. Till death do us part."

What heady words these were. And again, Joie's delivery was magnificent. The quiet acceptance in "You belong with your family." The stronger determination in "and I belong with you." The softer, almost regretful question, "right?" followed by an even quieter, deeper-in-regret "till death do us part," and then her voice dropped to a whisper as she spoke his name. Finally, love and conviction filled each word as she repeated, "till death do us part," her finger tracing a line upon his cheek.

As I watched this scene, I found myself in awe that the writers had scripted it so. I had to watch and re-watch and re-watch it over and over again and each time the power of her words, the love so implicit there, was overwhelming. And for the first time I had to echo Liz M.'s sentiments of so long ago ...

Call me crazy ... but the atmosphere of Manny has been foreboding from the start (kind of like the "star-crossed lovers" phrase is right there in the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet). I am loving every second of the story, but cannot shake the feeling that the writers are playing out the bard's themes of love (Danny & Michelle) and hate (Carmen vs Michelle), order and goodness (the Bauers) versus darkness and evil (the Santos Family) and they're doing it with this wonderfully romantic storyline -- one whose ending I don't even want to think about.

And I concur, how can this love story have a happy ending?

If they keep writing it this way (so damn truthfully and in character), how can these two ever find safety and happy-ever-after in each other's arms? And the refrain that keeps repeating in my mind is one that applies to this couple like no other I've ever seen on daytime before: "love alone is not enough ... love alone is not enough ... love alone is not enough..."

And then I find myself praying that I'm wrong because a love this strong should be enough.

Jennifer H.