Friday, November 16, 2001
What I Can Never Say
Should I wake you to tell you how my skin ignites into flames as your hands graze my body? Would you appreciate knowing that the kisses that follow soothe? Is it important for you to know that your tenderness makes me weak and your passion has me gasping for air?
I could try to explain how your love caresses me better than the expensive sheets we lay on. I could attempt to say how your lips on my neck mean more to me than any jewel you can afford to place there. I wish to convey how your heart beat next to mine captures paradise better than any vacation you could plan. I hope you know that cradled in your arms is where I feel safer and more loved than any where else I have ever been.
Your hands as they move over my body pamper and fulfill me in unfathomable ways. Your eyes as they lock on mine while you whisper to me create desire in me that only you can appease. Your skin on mine is delightful in its pain and healing in the same moment. Your soft touch as you explore leaves me feeling cherished. The sound of your breathing as you lay next to me composes a song unlike any other.
I am remain unmoving in your arms except for the fingers that play in your hair. You mumble as you dream and I know I will never wake you. I will spend the rest of my life showing you what you create in me.
Sunday, October 14, 2001
The Sacrifice
A decision made by a young girl that did not quite understand all that it would entail. A knowledge of better things ahead. A clarification that this would indeed be the best way. A young mind naive, simple did not grasp the enormity of such a decision.
Years later a more mature mind battles with the decision. how could it be so bad? Was it really as wrong as they said? It must be all right if everyone else is partaking. How could everyone be wrong? Confusion sets in.
It is a moment of truth. Does she stick with the decision or fly with the wind? Emotions run rampant through her mind as fragments of conversations haunt her. His hand moves to the bottom of her shirt as his lips tickle her neck. Voices that she has not heard in years dim the noises in the room. His breathing is no longer heard as he tugs on her shirt. She removes his hand from her stomach before running out the door. She leans against a wall and wills her beating heart to slow. Touching her swollen lips she turns to head home.
Time is slowly ticking away the seconds bringing to and end a joyous day. The guests have returned home. The remaining traces of cake and confetti are swept up among the lingers of laughter. The band is packing their instruments. In a room removed from the afternoon's activity her groom places a kiss on her neck. She smiles at him interlacing their newly decorated left hands. He brings their entwined hands to his lips slowly kissing each of her fingers. She smiles in contentment as she realizes a small sacrifice has reaped a great, fulfilling reward.
Monday, September 17, 2001
Fear and Indecision
My body is still as my mind races in too many different directions to make any progress. There are decisions to be made. How do I make the right decision? What is the wisest thing for me to do? Where will I go? What should I do? What is more important happiness or success?
My heart deals with a different battle. My dreams are they attainable? I have been told they are unrealistic. Is this true? What are my dreams? I have so many are they all reachable? Dreams of love, success, happiness, enjoyment, and bliss flash in my mind as I try to pick one. They are supposedly not interchangeable, no matter what you have to sacrifice something.
My heart and mind hold their battles. Logic and imagination wage a war. Fear and comfort duel courage and unknown. Knowledge fights the unrealistic. I scream breaking the reign that calmness once held.
Do I go for the unknown? There are no guarantees. Success and failure each have a 50/50 chance. All I've known would be gone. Am I woman enough to make it on my own?
I could remain in the comfort that I know. Life could continue as I know it. There would be no risk. It would be simple, nothing would need to change. Can I continue in what I've always known? Is it sufficient to quench all my desires?
I am no closer to a decision than when this procedure started. The battle has heightened to a catastrophic level. I push the was away just like I've done countless times before promising myself that when I was adequately prepared I would make a decision. Oh yes I forgot to mention this has been going on for months. My emotional and physical reserve are slowly depleting. A decision should be made soon to preserve my health and sanity.
Months later the door closes with a decisive click behind me. I realized that all those months of debating had not been to make a smarter decision. I had been hiding in the comfort that I knew. All that time I had stayed never trying something new, never challenging myself. I reach down to grip my bag to my side. I take the first step toward accomplishing my dream.
Thursday, September 6, 2001
What Does He Mean?
The questions comes out. What do you feel for him? Is it love? Are you in this for the long haul? Have you discussed marriage? I want to laugh at the eager faces staring at me waiting for the answer. How would they have any clue what I feel for him? I turn to look at him, taking a deep breath I open my mouth to respond. His brown eyes meet mine and I know exactly what to say.
"How do I explain what Dominic means to me? I see happiness and pain when I look at him. His strength gives me reason to fight. He is as essential to my being as breathing. He is as competitive as he is gentle. He is as strong as he is kind. He is dedicated. Moments with him are surreal. If I have a lifetime with him it is not enough time. The electricity that shoots through my body when he touches me could kill someone. The passion that he ignites in me when our eyes meet could singe. There is not a greater feeling than knowing when his lips touch mine that our souls have met. To answer your question do I love him-yes. Is that love going to continue to grow-yes. How long will we be together-I don't know. I am just counting the minutes that I have with him now."
Sunday, July 1, 2001
Reality Check
I am still waiting for it to happen. I don't want an easy way out or even the perfect solution dropped in my lap. I am completely ready to work for my goals. If I did not work for my goals there would be no fulfillment. I just need someone to point me in the right direction. I could use just a little help.
Where do you find that help though? Most people are bumbling along themselves not really sure where they are going. They don't have the wisdom or the nerves to assist anyone. This is where the cold water got splashed on my face. No one can tell me what is necessary in my life. I have to make that decision. I am not a toddler that depends on mommy and daddy to think for me lest I touch the hot burner on the stove. I am not a 12 year old standing in the dressing room of a mall wearing an outfit that your 17 year old should not wear. I am an adult by all accounts and standards. I have lived enough of my life to know that I should be able to do something's for myself. Why then did I believe that someone held answer magically in their hand waiting for me to choose between the right hand and the left hand.
With this new knowledge came the understanding that the ball was in my court and I was responsible for keeping the game going. How I was going to go about that is the next hurdle I faced. Some people would call in favors, others would worm their way in, or I could set about it in the old fashioned work my way in. I ultimately had the power in my hands to do something great, die trying, or just continue to trudge along. Which option was I going to choose?
Saturday, June 23, 2001
Memory Lane
Over a decade of friendship had made us closer than two sisters, more than just friends, and more comfortable than kindred spirits. We had shared so much in the 13 years that we had known each other. Giggles of schoolgirls as they spied their crushes brought blushes to our cheeks. Complaints of "grown women" who wanted to spread their wings and fly but were tethered to the poles known as parents brought smiles to our faces. Murmurings of independence and maturity brought smirks to our faces as we thought about how little we knew back then.
13 years of friendship. 13 years of planning double weddings, simultaneous pregnancies, vacations, and friendships for our children that would resemble ours and not once did we think that anything would ever change what we had. Of course life has a way of bringing out the chasms that need to be crossed in order to reach new heights.
It started out a simple drive. We wanted to be 14 again so we headed out for fries and a frosty. We started driving to pass the time without the distractions that boyfriends, parents, work, and life threw at us. I don't think either one of us could ever explain how we ended up in the old neighborhood or how the car slowed as houses we once called home came into view.
A dull ache moves in. This isn't supposed to hurt nor is it supposed to cause the tear that pools in the corner of my eye. I hope that it is too dark for her to see but when I glance at her a salty trail has been blazed down the side of her cheek. She looks at me briefly before looking back out the window and asking if I remembered the summers we spent painting and cleaning to earn a few dollars to go to the movies. My voice is weak as I respond. It wasn't supposed to be this painful.
We drive on again. Neither one of us says anything. I didn't trust myself to speak. I had been told that growing up was hard but when did it become heartbreaking? We continue on in silence, left to our thoughts of yesteryear.
Her voice breaks me out of my reverie. We are parked in front of the one place that would never change in our lives. We pull our shoes off and hit the sandy beaches walking along the same shore that saw two little girls build sand castles before giving way to the teens who sat around tanning and wishing their pride would let them build sand castles to the adults who wished they had time to build sand castles. It doesn't take long for the two of us to be seated constructing images in the sand.
"Do you regret any of it?"
She asks shyly like she is talking to a stranger and not her best friend. I know that she is not asking about the first 12 years but of the past year that had radically changed our lives. I think back to the laughter, the tears, the hurt, and the joy. I shake my head.
"No. There is a future to be had and memories that will tell of the legacy of two friends who withstood everything thrown at them to become the best friends who continue to grow closer with each passing year."
