March 01, 2005

Pink Moon

The fleeting moments of satisfaction- no, of great blessedness- came suddenly upon me this morning. C and K were unloading the dishwasher. Wait, they were arguing with one another about unloading the dishwasher (not arbitrary either, expected every morning). I came upstairs to lay down the law, but found instead that maybe I needed to lay down some soul. I slipped in Nick Drake and told them that Uncle Nick loves this CD and that his dog is even named after him. A small, slight grin slipped from the corner of C's mouth. A big one emerged from my own. Mission accomplished vicariously through my brother.

It reminded me when Nick was small and we would use reverse psychology to get him to finish his meals, drink his milk, clean-up toys, etc. "You're too small to get that done, " we would say. His face would explode with laughter and giggles and he would insist he was going to do it anyway. Five minutes later, we were done. This memory came suddenly, quickly and then lead me into another. Not a memory, but an anticipation. An exchange of vows- ceremonial, and sacred. Promises that are steps to being called into account for you life. Words given to be a witness that your life existed beyond your work and morning commute. An agreement that no longer will your pain and joy be only your own, but will be shared and born together, not in perfect happiness, sometimes with tremendous and exhausting effort, but in the name of love and reciprocal validation of your presence here.

Posted by Rae at March 1, 2005 10:05 AM
Comments

Well said Rae. I could add "as always," but such a phrase might be interpreted to trivialize the power of your descriptive writing. For reasons I'll not go into, your piece reminds me of Norman Maclean's reference to words at the end of "A River Runs Through It":

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

Posted by: Greg at March 1, 2005 03:35 PM

I confess that I have never read the book, but I did really enjoy the movie.

Thanks for the thoughts...my curiosity is piqued and I am going to put it on my list to check-out.

Posted by: Rae at March 2, 2005 12:37 AM
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