The way he had his arms wrapped around her while they sat on the bench couldn’t escape anyone’s notice. His mouth was moving but the sounds were caught long before they could hit passerby’s ears. You see scenes like this captured on a postcard or some picture that put in a corner and hope someday to find yourself a part of.
Her dress just hit below the knee. A simple floral print that hung front her body not exposing any curves but enclosing her slight frame. Blond hair was mixed in his eyelashes with no attempt being made to brush it away. You can’t see her face as it is buried in his shoulder but her skin has a simple paleness to it. Pink fingernails and toes to match.
Behind them was the expanse of the Charles River. A few people getting in their rowing while the day was still cool. The water calm and only the slightest hint of wind blowing.
They sat there forever. Just the two of them caught in a moment that for them looked like everything. It would take a very hard person to not want to have their own moment.
Sounds nice, now let’s add a few details.
The bench was resting against a large window separating them from all the noise. All that life going around them couldn’t change things.
He had brought her out from the bed she had been laying in after helping get that dress just right. Something he had picked up on the way in, praying that she would like the pattern and not just force a smile. Not only did he do this without help, he carried her to that window so she could see all that her room didn’t allow.
Her body, hidden beneath that dress frailer from yesterday. And there was not going to be a tomorrow.
She died in his arms while the rest of us kept our heads down. Knowing what we saw didn’t change what we hoped was just a different moment in time. Eventually he carried her back. Never swaying. Never breaking his strides. Never breaking down while the rest of us were.
Some moments are huge and the world sees them as nothing. Other moments are miniature flashes that we all hope for. This was the later.
The inner strength it took to share that with us all and still have it be so intimate is heart wrenching.
Now both of them are on different journeys and I hope they find each other later.
Random Brain Musings 