Reposting: Sunlit Garden

She asked you to play the serenade that reminds her of a garden in England. How it would look like if the garden were a song. And you stood and obliged, walking towards the grand piano at the center of the room. As a gentleman, the favor of a lady should never be turned down. I only looked on, busy keeping my dress neat. But I stopped and looked at you when I heard your fingers glide on the white and black keys.

I never thought you could play so beautifully. You seemed to glow like an angel by the piano. I blushed at the thought, trying hard to shake away the daydreams.

But this song is familiar... you taught this to me once by the rose garden...

"Go on.. you know how the music goes." the countess whispered in my ear. She handed me the violin. I looked at her and saw the secret in her eyes. They tell me that I should be standing there with you.

I thumbed the strings with care and I let the bow glide. I played with my heart, the song that reminded me of blue skies and the sun casting a shimmer over green fields and roses in bloom. Reminiscing the time you held my hand as you taught me your favorite song, which now is my favorite as well. The moment we stopped and looked at each other; and only the birds and the flowers knew that something else, something greater, blossomed on that field that day.

It was just you and me there. The piano and the violin's melody blending together. Our hearts playing as one. And I saw that in your eyes when you looked up to me. You never took away your gaze and so did I. Both of us continued playing, serenading each other; expressing our emotions through music. We finished our song and time somehow stood still. Our melody floated in the air, and everyone was quiet. Glorious claps followed soon after you stood up. You took my hand and gave me a sweet kiss. I returned it with the sweetest smile that only you deserve. You never let go of my hand that night... and you never did.

This wasn't a dream.. it was for real..

The countess looked on, with a smile on her lips.

The 2007 post

Remember September?
You used to sit beside
The empty chair
And just goof around
To distract me.

Then came October
You were my drinking buddy
My movie date
And it wasn't hard then
to show how you care.

November wasn't easy
He was already blocking
my view of you
Still you became the first
to greet me on my birthday.

And with that call I was already happy .

And December was the time
most difficult
When we had to say goodbye
to September days
and October moments
This time, she came and blocked the view.

I guess you were happy with that already.

I wish December you didn't meet her
I wish November I was with you
I wish October you held me tighter
For starting September, I was falling for you.

Just in Time for Holy Week

"I want a God who will cut my losses
and cushion my failures
a God who will grant me a life free from pain.

I want a God who will rescue me from death,
who will delete it from the human experience
and find another way to operate.

What I, what all of us have instead,
is a God who resurrects us from the dead,
putting an end to it by working through it,
instead of around it

Creating life in the midst of grief,
creating love in the midst of despair.

-resurrecting us from our big and little deaths,
showing us by Jesus example

that the only road to Easter morning
runs smack through Good Friday..."

Barbara Brown Taylor