|
Happy
Anniversary By Judith Nolan
“Like a
river flows, surely to the sea, darling, so it goes, some things are
meant to be. Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can’t help
falling in love with you…”
Catherine leaned her arms on the top of the balcony wall, listening to
the song coming from the apartment directly below hers. She began to hum
it quietly and smiled. An elderly couple had recently moved into the
apartment and they played it often in the late evening before they
finally turned out their lights and went to bed.
Catherine liked to imagine them slowly circling the living room, wrapped
in each other’s arms, as they may have done for fifty years or more.
Dancing to poignant love songs and enjoying the simple pleasure of being
alone together in the quiet of the night…
Precious moments of joy…she sighed
wistfully, wiping a single tear from her cheek. She’d always loved the
lyrics as much as she enjoyed Elvis singing it. The words said so much
about the inevitability of love and the often difficult choices people
made to allow them to be together. Just like her and Vincent. She was
waiting for him to arrive on the third anniversary of their first
encounter; the song seemed to have special meaning for them tonight.
They would make more precious moments to be savored and stored away
against an uncertain future.
Sensing Vincent’s arrival, she quickly turned to look and he was there,
a darker bulk among the shadows at the end of the balcony. He stepped
slowly down from the small dais of plants, and she hurried to take his
hand as he drew her close to enfold her in his welcoming arms. He
dropped his face into her hair, his deep sigh of contentment echoing
through them both. The sweet, drifting rhythm of the song wove its
special magic around them as they began to move slowly with the haunting
music. For now, in this precious moment, there was no need for words…
|