Judy and I flew back to the UK, arriving on the red eye at Heathrow and that afternoon, we visited my father in hospital. I whispered 'hallo'. My father's eyes flew open and, wordlessly, his eyes met mine. It was to be for the last time.
The funeral was a quiet, dignified service which honoured his remarkable life.
I am grateful for all that he has given me.
Now, we are back in our cottage by the pond. The hummingbird is back, sipping nectar at the feeder... and at night the crickets create a backdrop of sound that is both soothing and lulling, all at once.
I am beginning to realise that I am comfortable being here in America. I feel no sense of exile, it, and for me is like coming home to a land of new beginnings.
So I am excited to begin dreaming again of new creative possibilities; of ideas in film, writing and paint that can begin again at the beginning.
I love this land of vast horizons...
Nicholas
So our flight from Heathrow was delayed and I had a little anxiety about making the connecting flight in JFK. There was a lot of turbulence on the return journey and we were informed that we were delayed because of big storms on the east coast of the United States. At one point our pilot came on the PA system, apologised for the bumpy ride, explaining that someone had to ride the top of the clouds at 30,000 feet and it turned out that someone was us...
We raced through arrivals, immigration (with a brand new green card for Nicholas) and claimed our luggage, walked at speed to the air train, got to Jet Blue's terminal with less time than I would have liked, only to find out that our flight to Syracuse was also delayed. Hmmm...seeing a little pattern here.
Everything was not as I thought it would be, it had not exactly followed the schedule I anticipated, and yet...all the connections were made, we arrived safely, it was bumpier and slower and much more tiring that I had hoped for...but we are home, in our little cottage on the pond once more.
After three very full days of training in my new job at Finger Lakes School of Massage this weekend, Nicholas said he wanted to take me on a little drive to show me something beautiful he had discovered over the weekend.
On a little road between Ithaca airport and our cottage was an entire field absolutely full of sunflowers, there was no house nearby, no obvious business or garden centre, nothing...just a huge field of golden blossoms.
After an exhausting time full of sorrow and loss and sadness, I was reminded of the possibility of unexpected beauty often found in unlikely places...
Judy
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