November 23, 2005 and March 15, 2006
He didn’t know, but she stood at the window to watch him get into a cab and go. And as the taxi pulled away out of sight, she put their pictures on the mantel, wrapped herself in her bathrobe and sighed.
She didn’t know, but as he got into the taxi he pulled her picture from his bag and held onto his phone trying to decide how long to wait before it was okay to call and hear her voice again.
They had set aside a week to fall in love. It was time to go back to work.
In the time of the holidays, there is rarely enough time for the people that matter the most to you, much less find time to fall in love. Shopping, time with family, parties with friends these are the important things that we appreciate the holidays for, but they are also the times where obligation, and responsibility weigh heavily on the mind; rarely do we have time for ourselves. Rarely do we have time for renewal. It is a terrible time to start a relationship.
Sometimes love has a way of sneaking up on us.
- * *
The foliage has passed and the pale yellow of the sunlight is the only color left in the branches of the trees. The sharp frost air has made the leaves crunchy and brittle underfoot; and walking through them grinds them into a fine powder.
Shirtsleeves sprout into jackets and grow into coats and scarves and gloves. The holiday colors are sterile on the walk from the train station. The crowd seems to be going which ever way I am not; and as I wend my way through the press of people, I catch my reflection in a plate glass window and I am struck by the enormity of it all.
My wife and I, we married for the best reason in the world.
If you go
It was a different time.
“What is it?”
“What? Oh nothing, really.”
Echoes of happiness.
We were having ice cream on the bridge overlooking the fountain in Central Park.
Every night I go for a walk, as if being alone in my apartment is too much to bear. My bed goes untouched as I pass out on the couch watching late night TV.
I must be a young soul or at the least an immature soul.
Onset of winter ending
I am trying to do the right thing. Trying to be healthy.
I lean my head against the plate glass
Hey.
At one point I thought my life was saved, now I know it is not.
Like they had sixty years ago, they had set aside a week to fall in love. It was time to go back to work. The taxi pulled away from the curb, she looks at the mantel, he looks in the pictures in his wallet. Time enough had passed and he dialed the phone.
“I know it’s only been five minutes, but I wanted to hear your voice.”
“I know, I wanted to hear yours too.”