I fell asleep on the couch last night with the Cricket on.
The Ashes have started, and Andrew and I were watching them. I knew they would
go late into the night, and so I would have to sleep through part of them. I
always woke up momentarily for the yell of a wicket, and amazingly woke up 2
seconds before a wicket one time.
At one point I woke up, and Mark had joined Andrew on the couch.
We shared easy conversation about the bleak chances of our batsmen when we were
3-22, laughing and just sharing the camaraderie of following a sport together.
The cricket finished up around 3am, and we all went to bed
around the same time. I got up at 6:30 again to get ready for work. I ate my
soup, and put on my green socks. I love my green socks, and I enjoy the simple
freedoms of choosing what I wear each morning after so long being stuck in one
look every day, down to my sock color.
I went to the bus stop and there was a beautiful sunrise. I
had to keep looking back and forth at it and the direction the bus would be
coming from, to make sure I hailed it in time for it to stop for me. It came
eventually, and I rode into work. As I came into the city, I thought about
people and their morning coffee rituals, and thought though I didn’t want coffee
that this morning I might want something.
I found myself about 10 minutes later walking through Rundle
mall with an iced chocolate in my hand. It was a telling moment. Andrew and I
confirmed our falling in love walking through Rundle Mall. The first night I
was in Australia, we’d wandered Rundle Mall
late into the night, and it always reminds me of those free times, and
the hope I felt for our future, and the wonder I felt at being with this
amazing person.
As I walked through this morning, I didn’t just remember the
optimism of those moments, I felt it. I felt an optimism for the future, simply because I
didn’t even really remember the decision to buy this iced chocolate. Over the
past two years, we’ve both spent so much time weighing up Every. Single. Purchase.
Thinking and contemplating every $5 nothing purchase, and most often coming to
the conclusion that such a purchase could not be justified.
I remember looking forward to having Mark come over, and
doing things together the three of us doing things together. I remember
thinking of the sort of job I might get, and just enjoying life here.
And today, after 2 years and 3 months, I felt like those
moments had finally come. Mark may be gone in a week, but I always knew he
wouldn’t be with us forever, and I am just glad for any time we get together.
I walked to a job that I love with a small purchase in hand
that I hadn’t spared a thought for, wearing the locks that I love. This is the
life I dreamed of. And it is here.
