Sunny Side Up Feb 13, 2002 �2002, Kathleen Gibson Marriage�still the best celebration of love He was a much older man and I a sunny-haired pre-schooler, but he stole my heart nevertheless. Plagued with an unusually disfiguring type of acne, Richard lived with us for a few months while receiving treatments only available in nearby Vancouver. He was excruciatingly shy�so was I, back then. We became fast friends and I proposed to him, I recall. I still have the fringed white rayon scarf he gave me during one of our walks in the park behind the house, when the salt wind rose hard and fast off the inlet and licked my ears cold. Keep it, he said, wrapping its luxurious length around my small head and tucking it under my chin. Whenever I think of that day, I recall his large hand around mine, and the tangible sadness that nibbled at my insides when he told me he was going away. With him flew all my hopes of love and marriage�or so I thought. I almost received my first kiss at seven, from the puckered lips of a boy named Terry Hickey. (Really!) Cheered by his pals, he chased me around the schoolyard with all the panting passion of a pit bull. Round and round we went, my legs well ahead of my upper body and all of me just barely ahead of his outstretched arms. He never succeeded�I was rescued, either by the bell or an observant teacher, I can�t recall. I overheard a proposal the other day. The children had no idea the wind was transporting their secrets to me from across the playground. �Do you want to marry me?� His young voice simmered with eagerness. There wasn�t even a comma�s pause from the maiden at the top of the slide. �Okay,� she chirped, squirming into launch position. �But first I have to marry Mark and Leon and Trevor, then I�ll marry you. Okay?� �Okay.� The young groom-to-be hopped onto the swings, lifted his face to the sky and started pumping. It was settled then�he�d wait his turn. There�s a peck of stuff to travel through while searching for one�s true valentine�futile circuits around the �playground� chasing a few moments of passion, a broken heart sometimes, and nearly always a good deal of waiting. But it�s often while we wait that God delivers his best surprises. My mother waited, though not idly. In her late twenties, she adopted a child and started a family of her own�nearly unprecedented for a single young woman in the1940�s. Six years later my father walked into her life. They�ll be celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this summer and would quickly tell you that their ongoing love story is worth all the twists in the journey along the way. So would I, for God sent me a valentine too�.a spouse who for twenty-five years has graced my life with his love and firm commitment to our marriage. Curiously, his name is also Richard. Marriage�.it�s the best celebration of love. Happy Valentine�s Day. You can respond to this page at [email protected] |