This morning I had one of those lovely "life comes full circle moments." My kids clamoured for leftover chocolate birthday cake for Breakfast this morning. After boring oatmeal, I portioned out the last slices from the cake with homemade frosting made by one of Jon's co-workers for his birthday yesterday. Soon we had three messy, chocolate covered faces bopping along to the Aussie band My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
"We're eating chocolate cake for breakfast while listening to My Friend the Chocolate Cake," I shouted happily.
That CD has languished in the back of non-played CD collection since Hannah's birth.It got freed during a massive Spring cleaning spurt recently.
I first heard this Melbourne band from my Aussie friend I met in Europe. We took an overnight ferry to Crete. (I did my study at the University of London on Modern Greek History and convinced my friend Christine that I NEEDED to see Kazantzakis homeland in person before I could write an inspired literary critique of his novels. She agreed to spend her Spring Break running around Greece with me. Writer friends are good like that.)
Even though we were in the beautiful setting, the ferry ride was awful. I had my heart smashed up by an American. Christine felt badly that she'd never been kissed. We were both in a sorry state without the sickening smell from the cigarette smoke from the Russians next to us. I borrowed her CD player and went up alone on the deck. I listened to the unfamiliar band, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, while feeling so lost and empty under the moon.
In 2000, I visited Christine in her homeland on the eve of her wedding. She married a lovely "lad", a music teacher. On the last night I spent in Australia, Christine ran out and bought me a CD of my favorite Aussie band.
That trip to Australia was the last trip I took without a certain new boyfriend. I missed him when I went to snorkeling at the Great Reef. I missed him as I contemplated Aboriginal Art in the Aussie National Gallery. Everything thing of beauty that I saw, felt a little diminished because I couldn't talk to him about it. "I'm never taking a trip without Jon again," I declared on the flight home. Three weeks later, Jon proposed!
So anyways, all these feelings came full circle this morning.
There I was listening to old, old music from a time in my life when I thought I was useless in love. This morning, I had a newly minted 37 year old husband at my side and three funny kids.
This the mark of my days now. There are no more trips to Australia or Greece. I don't have time email pictures to my foreign friends. Yet everyone sits together happily in my heart. Christ's peace felt a little "anti-climactic" at first. Now, however, I'm so joyful to be home.
God is good!
