Bells posted 3/19/2009 9:44:22 PM | 13 kudos what's this?     report abuse

sloriver

It was easy to be a believer when I was a child. I believed in Santa and the Tooth Fairy; the Easter Bunny was never believable though. I guess there was that little bit of skepticism in me even at five years old. In spite of that skepticism, the world was magic and I believed very much in magic.

On Sunday mornings the church bells would ring. It’s not that way any more. I suppose they’re no longer needed to summon worshippers, or maybe there were just too many complaints from Sunday morning sleep-ins. As a child those bells sent a thrill of reverence through me. Now when my belief in the church is reduced, I still love the bells. When I’m visiting my mom I wake to them on Sunday morning. It seems that in the very small towns the church bells still ring.

I came to MD almost two years ago. I was confused about life and more than a little skeptical about the future. I didn’t expect to find anyone here. I wasn’t really looking. You see, the really big good things didn’t happen to guys like me. The small good things were enough; the smile of a grandchild, those first buttercups of spring, the sweet guilty pleasure of Rocky Road ice cream. But love and permanence eluded me. I was divorced and estranged from my children. I took those small pleasures and wrote my small stories. I took pleasure in the friends I had made here. And I existed, happily.

Lightning strikes, though, sometimes. I got a wink from Melissa. I read her profile before responding and I had the conceited thought that her profile had been written especially for me. It wasn’t, of course. It was written by someone who’s a fellow traveler; someone who feels the future waiting for her. On the way to visit my mother I stopped to visit and found I was so very at ease with her and so very attracted to her that I started to suspect she fit my picture of the perfect mate. That first date was last August and I can see nothing except that which lies in her direction.

The date hasn’t been set but this summer the church bells will ring for me and Melissa. Last Saturday I asked her to be my wife. She said yes. I have begun the rest of my life. Together, we will finish this house I’ve begun building and then we’ll sit on the porch and watch those fireflies. I’ll rush home each day to see what new delight she has made for me. She delights without trying. She creates those admirable things that make me smile and please my soul. I’ve waited a long time. It’s time to live again. And it’s time to believe.

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