Aspects of Love
As you can, no doubt, imagine there are some months when, to quote Stephen Sondheim, “merrily we roll along” or not quite so ”merrily” during challenging times. There are months when we hit our routine, and nothing striking seems to happen, and I scratch my head, trusting that inspiration will dawn for an entertaining blog post. And usually, it does! May felt like a rollercoaster ride; we flashed through many engagements, barely registering the emotional lows and highs.
At the beginning of the month, our town hosts its annual Shrimp Festival, a four-day event that nicely coincides with my birthday, so I can delude myself that the parade, arts and crafts fair, fireworks, and concerts are all for me! It also coincides with the Kentucky Derby. We were fortunate enough to be invited to a Derby party. Check out our outfits! We didn’t win a bean, but it was lots of fun. Later in the month, we got soaked to the skin on a mini catamaran ride and laughed until it hurt at a local production of “The Odd Couple.” Add to this a little extra travel and packing up our kitchen in preparation for a major renovation and you appreciate we’ve been busy!
And that’s not counting Mother’s Day weekend! I’d like to draw your attention there since that’s where I found meaning through the chaos! We rearranged our flight plans so we could attend the memorial service for a good friend. Although it meant we arrived in the Boston area late at night, we had no regrets; the service was a tender tribute to someone you can truly call a ”gentle” man. And Chris sang of enduring love like an angel! Our song was much more raucous the following day when, together with a small crowd of friends and relatives, we celebrated our grandson’s first birthday. Inevitably, Kayden was unimpressed by “Happy Birthday,” cake, candle, and even most of his gifts until he came across a new push-along toy. Little boy heaven! Mother’s Day, or as they call it in the UK, “Mothering Sunday,” dawned, and we made a surprise visit to our previous church. Not only was the service carefully nuanced, acknowledging that this day can be painful to many, but included a beautiful hymn written by the pastor about untimely death that could refer to miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility. We’d scarcely had time to process this when we were swamped with hugs and good wishes from our friends. How cool, they hadn’t forgotten us. Now, it was time for brunch with two of my special friends. We barely stopped talking long enough to eat the delicious food. One thing about getting older strikes me, you have longer and possibly deeper friendships.
Later, at the airport, Chris asked me what I had enjoyed most about Mother’s Day brunch. Perhaps he expected me to wax lyrical about the Dover sole or the indulgent cream gateau, but another thought sprang instantly to mind,
“The affection between us.”
“Among us,” he gently corrected, not usually being too precise about grammar
“Affection” may reflect my predilection for the Great British understatement. I’m pretty sure my grown children would have no hesitation about using the word “love.” And that’s what touched me about the weekend’s events, to quote another illustrious composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, they all embraced “Aspects of Love.”
News Flash!
A Glass Darkly Coming Soon!
End Notes
Reading
The Book of Joy
His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams
Listening
Jalousie
Stephane Grappelli featuring Yheudi Menuhin
Fire and Arms
from the soundtrack to Michael Collins’s movie, Elliot Goldenthal
Viewing
Wild Ireland: Kingdon of Stone
Nature on PBS
Poetry
The Song of Isis 1090
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers
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