It was on
September 21st, the night of the fall equinox, a warm, starry
evening with a hint of crispness in the air that I stepped into an alternate
universe….never to return. My life at
age 68 was pleasant and predictable, filled with family gatherings and my
creative hobbies at a little cottage on a lake I have loved all of my
life. I never went to parties being
content to spend much of my time when I wasn’t with family, by myself.
Even though
I find large gatherings draining, I let my daughter talk me into attending a
party with her, given by an acquaintance of ours.
I was told a few old friends I hadn’t seen in years might be there and
figured it wouldn’t hurt to stop by briefly.
I felt a moment of panic as we entered the beautiful home overflowing with
music, lots of people and tables of refreshments and briefly longed for the
peaceful quiet of my little cottage, but forged ahead behind my daughter as we
made our way to say hello to the hostess.
We migrated
soon to another room, and as I wandered through the crowd my eyes met those of
The Guitarist. We had dated casually a
few times 50 years ago and I had not seen him since, but there, in that
moment…….time collapsed. The rest of the
room fell away and we talked for many hours into the night. We were both reluctant to say goodbye, and I
remember feeling as I walked out the door, that my life would never be the
same. I knew that I had somehow slipped
into an alternate universe.
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| The Guitarist |
The Guitarist
and I have talked about this many times since that evening, and we have come to
the conclusion that miracles do happen, but that you must be willing to be
authentic to experience them. Although we
have both been bruised and battered by life in different ways, we have made
peace with it. I think that the ultimate
wisdom of age is that you must let go of the ego to experience the true and timeless beauty that lies within another. It is difficult or impossible when you are
young and full of yourself. What we
experienced in that moment was a rare soul connection, an alignment of the
stars that opened a portal through which we had the courage to step.
It took me another
3 months to find the strength to walk out of my former life and the
expectations of others as to my role in theirs.
In the end, I didn’t try to explain because I knew I couldn’t. I just left.
I left behind my beloved cottage on the lake and the approval of some of
my grown children and moved into a small home in the suburbs where The
Guitarist lives. We are looking for a
new place to move that we can call our own out in the country where we can look at the stars and contemplate the mysteries of the universe.
Many years ago, I played the piano as a young girl. I recently purchased a keyboard, having had to leave my piano behind, and The Guitarist and I have been practicing a lovely Irish Ballad. It’s called “The Town I Loved So Well” and we have recorded it here for your listening pleasure. It is our first recording and although not perfect....so very much fun! We hope you enjoy it and that you always believe in the magic of love.
Click on the link below and then on the arrow to play.
