Sacred moments

 

It was on a Sunday after church and lunch. We were walking down to the station in the 5 o'clock golden light and I wondered if I would remember this moment forever just for its sheer beauty. The day was simple enough and we weren't doing anything particularly special, but the light felt like a sacred gift.

So I asked J about sacred moments - what moments in our relationship had felt particularly sacred to him? He mentioned seeing me at the arrival hall when he came to Singapore for what has been the longest time. Everything was new (and frightening in that newness). The ache of saying goodbye to things at home was still there. But I was familiar and I was his reason to leave and to come.

I asked Jacob to tell me about our sacred moments throughout the week, and from Monday to Friday I got a voice message (on Saturday and Sunday I had the pleasure of the actual voice) bringing me back to our past. Lying under the supertrees in Gardens by the Bay, walking and eating breakfast by the creek in Washington, running through the fountain in Philadelphia, cycling for the first time together in Singapore, good morning kisses in London, picking blackberries in Wales...

I listened in awe, adding to his memory a whole host of moments from my own. This is our history (may it be a long one). This is our collective memory (may it be sweet, please bless it Lord). 

5 things

 

1. Work has been really stressful recently, and (as these things tend to do) has been making its way into my dreams. I dreamt that I was in a cafe and I met a lawyer who I've been in contact with and who has been hard to get a reply from. 

'Hello!' 

        'Hello!' 

'I'm so sorry I didn't reply - you see, I met someone! We're getting married and I'm moving abroad.'

So now when I don't get a reply to my copious pestering emails, I'll imagine her and her new lover in Barbados building a house.

2. My knee is healing, and I can now run 15 minutes continuously (although I get quite out of breath doing so, because my stamina has faded somewhat...)

3. J brought home a game that he sometimes plays with his students, which involves crafting a mythical tale using prompts (it's great). To begin the game, you have to list a cast of characters. We began with a witch named Helga, a shepherd boy called Ananias and his grandfather Sergio (we were trying to make the cast diverse, hence the random collection of names). 

        J: 'How about a...a big sea serpent?'

        M:'Yes!'

        J: 'We could call it...um....'

        M: (whispers) 'Susan.'

I don't think I've seen J laugh so hard all month.

4. Mum and J have been getting some really sweet notes from students and student's parents. It makes me realise just what a huge difference teachers make in people's lives. I'm going to marry a life-changer! 

5. We made mincemeat yesterday (for mince pies). It involved quite a lot a brandy, and all the dried fruit in the world. We bought a little bottle of brandy from Fairprice and have have a bottle left for next year. Next year! It will be a different Christmas then, and it feels a little like we are starting to create traditions for then, now.