I was out the other night
with two of my friends. We had dinner at a place in Club Street – which is a
restaurant area here in Singapore. We ate at an outside table. These two
friends of mine are Russian. One of them is engaged now actually – and is to be
wed on the weekend. She and her husband-to-be are good together because they
accept, understand and appreciate each other.
Acceptance.
Comprehension.
Appreciation.
I think these are the
fundamental requirements of a sound relationship - plus love of course.
So I am confident it will
work out well.
I was once again the only
bloke at dinner but I didn't mind. I quite liked it in fact. There was much discussion about their wedding plans.
It is going to be a big event apparently – more than a hundred guests coming from
all over the world but there will only be a few close friends attending from here in Singapore. I am
honored to be one of the close friends. The majority of people are coming from
overseas.
The bride is Russian.
The groom is Australian.
I like weddings - they are
happy events. This one is going to be Black Tie so I get to wear my tuxedo. I
have my own tuxedo and I have my own black tie. The tie is not one of those
elastic or clip on jobs - it is one that I knot myself.
It takes me a while to tie it
properly but it is worth the effort.
All good things require effort.
With the incessant heat
and humidity Singapore is not the best place to wear a tuxedo however I have
donned one before here and I have survived. I quite like getting dressed up on
the odd occasion - but I am normally otherwise a bit of a slob.
I feel most
comfortable in jeans and a tee shirt.
No shoes.
The bride-to-be is always
immaculately dressed. She is very stylish and is most fashion savvy. She is
classy.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
It is my belief that elegance
is innate. In my mind it has nothing to do with being well dressed. Elegance is
in fact refusal and it is sometimes surrender. Charles Dickens once
wrote,
"Great men are seldom
over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire".
Don't judge a book by
its cover he is saying.
Good one Charles.
So the talk of weddings led
on to discussions of love and romance. Girly stuff. I have seen the bride-to-be
petting the future groom on many occasions. She strokes his hand across the
table when we are out.
He loves it.
He laps it up.
The song “I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ was the first single released by the
Beatles. It was brilliant. The Beatles nailed it with that one because it is
what everyone wants really. Holding hands is a public expression of affection.
It is an unhidden demonstration of connection. John Lennon wrote the music and he
penned the lyrics as well.
Nice one
John.
We miss you.
The bride-to-be
wanted to hear a romantic moment from me and our other mutual friend did as
well. I resisted but they implored me to tell them a love story. So I gave them
one.
- A moment that
is.
The moment I
gave them happened a long time ago - when I was a youth. So that's a really
long time ago now. It was a time when I was just traveling around Europe. I was
just back-packing about the place. I was flitting here and there – taking
myself to wherever I fancied.
I moved on a
whimsy.
I was footloose.
I was fancy
free.
Those were the
days.
They really
were.
I told the girls
that on this long ago occasion I was in France and it was Summer. I had caught
a bus to a little village on the French Riviera. The name of the village
was Beaulieu-sur-Mer. I got
on the bus at Nice and as I alighted at the village square a girl got on. We
passed each other in the doorway and as she stepped up and I stepped down for a split second we locked eyes and we smiled
at each other. It was one of those moments where in a single glance souls were
instantaneously exchanged.
The Italians call such
moments 'colpo di fulminate.' - the thunderbolt. The Italians understand passion. They
get it.
Their passion is often entangled with a maelstrom of lust but they do
it very well. I have tasted love with an Italian before and it was both a sweet
and a fiery fruit.
But that's
another story - to be told another day.
Anyway in this
singular moment - in Beaulieu-sur-Mer - my chest felt as if it had cracked open.
I temporarily lost the capacity to breathe. By the time I realized what had
struck me the bus was driving away. I looked up at it departing and this girl - this
angel – she turned from her seat at the window and she smiled again and then
she gave me a little wave.
I
didn't even have time to wave back.
It is one of my life regrets.
As the bus
disappeared in the distance the breath whooshed out of my body and everything around me froze for a
moment. I felt as if I was looking at her departing
through a telescopic camera lens. I was zoomed in all the way and the world
around me paused for that tiny span of time between the opening and the closing
of the shutter.
Click.
I was only
planning on staying in Beaulieu-sur-Mer for a couple of days before moving on
to Monte Carlo.
However I stayed for a whole week. I spent much of the time
waiting at that bus stop.
Every day.
Hoping to see
this girl again.
This complete
stranger had stolen my heart in a blink of an eye. She had spellbound me.
Those were seven
timeless days filled with Hope.
Anxiety.
Anticipation.
Then ultimately
there was devastation.
I have heard
that when you meet the love of your life, time stops - and when it starts up again
it moves extra fast to catch up.
This is what it
was like.
I never saw her
again.
The re-telling
of this tale opened up an old wound and I told these friends of mine thus.
The bride-to-be
told me that she thought the story was beautiful and her friend nodded in agreement. I replied that it was all
just a bit sad.
When I think
about it now though I realize that some people flash into and then out of our
lives but they can leave imprints on our hearts. I don’t think that it happens very
often - however this was one of those moments.
Missed
as it was.
A romantic, you are. I believe everyone has such moments, moments that linger forever - even briefly in a dream. Just be prepared to grab it if it should come again. :D
ReplyDeleteMan, that was great. Life is filled with moments, but few are as moving!
ReplyDeleteThank you,