Amy Jenkins wrote the article, making it clear that even though the rumours had not been confirmed, that they hadn’t been denied either. Today it seems that the damage control is firmly in place with speculation being watered with the proverbial ‘we are working at it’ and that the couple are ‘very much together’.

I remember when Gere-Crawford split came to be. Didn’t they take out a double page spread in a top US newspaper, denying the rumours and insisting that they too were ‘very much together’? Months later, it turned out that they ceased to be ‘very much together’ for real.

Celebrity gossip is a hobby for many, but that is not the aim of this post (everyone is entitled to a private life are they not?) – the point is that it makes me think about love ‘n’ stuff – If only we could fall in love and stay in love forever? … At some stage or another things come to an end, when they have run their course… Naively, we think that love lasts forever, but the reality is that seldom does it, and if it does for you, then you are truly blessed and never stop being grateful for it.

Love most often is a passing phase, it is never guaranteed, that you will be loved back, or that if you are that you always will be. Falling out of love is just as a reality as is falling in love. Nothing is ever guaranteed; nothing is ever for sure except death and taxes (which ironically Pitt’s character in Meet Joe Black also says.)

This morning, in 2010, as I drove back, it was a different story altogether. The sky was a gorgeous baby blue and it was clear. The odd cotton wool in the sky was pure white and it was scenic to say the least. This was the first thing I noticed about this brand new year that has come to grace us, as I first sat there admiring it from the hotel lobby. My whole journey home remained like this and I was grateful. Grateful, that at last the dark days are gone and what lies ahead are brighter days full of joy.

2010, please be kind.

x

Well the snow has finally hit the country after days of prediction and speculation. It is now the early hours of the morning and the snowfall has stopped for a while after continuously gracing us for the last 5 hours or so.

The fierce wind has taken over as the snowfall takes a breather … The sky is black in places, and grey at the same time, as the elements gather and there in front of me, as I look up, I see light – very faint light, it is a blue almost. As if a beacon is hiding behind the cloudy sky. It lights up the sky almost perfectly under the circumstances. It is the moon of course and the strength of its light refuses to be shunned away by the other forces with which it finds itself.

This is the essence of hope, undeniably. For no matter what the weather, hope will always be there. Whether we choose to see it or indeed appreciate is a different matter entirely. Nonetheless, somewhere amidst the heartache, the pain, the madness, the confusion, the weather of life, hope is there, ever present.

(*By the time I came to the end of this post, it started to snow again. THe sky now has turned a blanket of slate – grey in the background with a misty white film on top. The moon is still there, you just cannot see it at the moment. And just because you cannot see it at the moment, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Just like hope.)

When out shopping, one gets to see so many beautiful things (mostly those that will not necessarily be yours). Today, as I casually strolled into one shop, I was browsing the goodies when I saw a child walk up the stairs towards where her father was standing. Clutching a soft toy which fell from her hands and which she kept stopping to pick up over and over again as it kept falling with every step she took upwards (her father smiling but secretly wishing that she would hurry up!), she suddenly stopped.

‘Wait daddy!’ she shouted and then proceeded to walk down the stairs. The toy had fallen again, but she had not cared, but instead focused on descending the stairs.

‘Careful please darling,’ her mother gently said to her as she stood at the bottom of the stairs.

The little girl nodded as if to signal that she was going to obey her mother and not hurry. Moments later, she was towards the bottom of the staircase, with a few to go before she reached the ground.

‘Mummy, I love you,’ she said out aloud before she turned around to carry on ascending the stairs and head towards her father who still was waiting anxiously.

As her mother picked up the toy that had fallen from her daughter’s hands, I leaned over and asked her mother, ‘Is that all she wanted to tell you?’

‘Yes,’ the mother smiled.

How so very wonderful to be so very loved…

I do like to go shopping, one gets to see so many beautiful things (mostly those that will not necessarily be yours).

‘You should have seen the way he tried to sweep it up and put it in the bin before I came along and caught him,’ she related.

She was in tears as she went over and showed me the remaining items minus the now broken cup.

‘Just the one cup broke?’ I asked to which she nodded sadly. ‘I know it is difficult as you loved this set a lot, but since when was there a guarantee that anything will last forever?’ I said.

We always seem to get upset at the breakage of delicate items that were created to be broken and were never promised to be immune to being broken, the heart for example. No matter how much we protect ourselves, one day it will break and sometimes, it carries on breaking again and again until we decide no more. And when we have decided no more, sometimes it carries on breaking regardless. Unfortunately though, as with a broken cup or glass, we are unable to sweep away the pieces but instead often end up carrying them deep within us, for them to pierce our souls now and again.

That indeed, these very moments that I type his blogpost and the ones with which you read it may be mine and your last…

With this in mind, put your pride to one side – if you have wronged someone, apologise; If you need to forgive, do so; if you are grateful to someone for anything or something, thank them; if you love them, say it… this may be the last and only chance you have.

“…A thousand armies couldn’t stop me, no”, “Stormy weather couldn’t stop me, no” – ah! ..

(My respect to all those men out there who are not afraid of the meaning of this song)

There is a great scene (one of the most memorable for me, although indeed there are so many equally powerful ones) when lovesick Florentino Ariza, goes to work with his uncle, he is told off for his inability to write even a simple commercial letter without romantic poetry creeping in. “It’s no use,” protests Florentino, “Love is the only thing that interests me.”

I often am asked why I am attached to affairs of the heart which are so central to my writing. My reply is the same.

I have no qualms about the wounds, nor the pain, nor time nor the memories. You listen to all prayers, so please accept mine:
Let my love never cry for I am not there to wipe away those tears…