June 11, 2012

Home Sweet Home



I drive down our street,coming home from work.. Three young boys toss a football in the middle of the road. It is their street and they own it, yet are wise enough to step back for passing cars. Their mother stands in the front yard, calling out, surely reminding them to be careful. She loves them. Trunk open and packages in her arms another women dodges the affection of her ecstatic German Shepard. She's home! She's home! The glue that holds us together, the sweet moments in life.I hold in my hands the sweet moments of coming home after a day of school or work. Grateful for unbroken rhythms of the day. The relief of coming home to dogs wagging their tails and even the sigh of yet another meal to prepare. Lexi in her favorite rainbow colored animal print pajama bottoms stretched out on the floor in front of the television. Home for the day and clothed in comfort. Homework undone, but time to relax. Struggles and worries put to the back burner until the alarm goes off to start another day of school. Ashley, her long blond hair weaving in and out of the rungs of the chair, chatting and laughing with her best friend Grace. She never seems to worry, she just plans her day, expecting it to meet her expectations.

House Dreams

There I go again dreaming of a house. What is it with me and houses anyway?

This dream was quite different from my normal house dream about the same house over and over, year after year. I am not sure if it was the same house I always dream about, because it did seem different. My impression is that the room was a honey hued yellow and there was a bed in it with a cream colored bedspread. A window let in daylight. There were other people in the room with me, but I feel that my Dad was the person I was focused on, but somehow I felt that my husband Dan was there, too. In a way they kind of melded together. Out of the corner of my eye I had the creepy sensation that there was some kind of scary thing that I would get a glimpse of coming out of an electrical outlet. What appeared to be a tiny white bearded gnome with a red hat, slithered in and out of the outlet. It looked like the gnome that Travelosity uses in their commercials, but he was definitely not that happy go lucky fellow. This guy was scary. The Dad/Dan person in the room noticed that I saw this gnome and acknowledged that they had seen it, too, and that it was not just my imagination. He said that it had been larger and was shrinking in size. Somehow, I knew that this was a good sign.

As always I looked at the walls in the house dream. They were a slightly damaged, but I turned an ambiguous shoulder and walked away. It didn't seem to matter anymore.

I thought about that little gnome as I took my walk this evening. In my dream I remember that at first I looked away when I noticed the little creepy thing popping out of the wall. I did not want to acknowledge it and make it real. I forced myself to face the scary thing and accept that it was really there. I imagined the little gnome diminishing in size and finally being sucked into the outlet until he was no more.

Mo Anam Cara

The short attractive redhead walked into the shop on a whim, searching for wedding bands. I could see a light of happiness shining in her eyes. Our conversation revealed that she was a mother and had been divorced for seven years. The man she was marrying had entered her life soon after she was divorced, but they eventually parted ways, renewing their relationship years later.

"There is a ring that is used in Ireland as a traditional wedding band engraved with the words "mo anam cara". I showed her the sterling ring engraved with those words and a Claddagh. "What does it mean ?" she asked as she slipped the ring on her finger. "It's Gaelic for "my soul mate", I answered. She visibly trembled and said that years ago when she and her fiance were first dating she had been told by a psychic that the man she was with was her soul mate. After they parted ways she thought of that moment often, but since they were no longer together , she felt that it must not be true. There are times when you know that something special has transpired even if you are only on the periphery of the experience.

Calling our husband or wife our soul mate is a common expression. I hear it all the time and sell many of the mo cara anam rings as wedding bands. This time it was special, because the conviction that long ago someone told her this man was her soul mate. They parted ways only to come back together again, because it was meant to be. A serendipitous trip to an Irish store brought her to the rings that made the statement that cemented the foundation of her relationship with her soon to be husband.