Seeing the forest and the trees...

I am working through a summer reading book with an eleven-year-old student of mine right now.  It's a science fiction novel about time travel, and it's fascinating.  In it, men from the future come back and tell all these kids about how time travel works and how they can move outside of time.  It's entirely mind-boggling and great.  And, it reminds me in some off-hand way of my favorite book of all time, The Lovely Bones.

One of my favorite parts of this novel, one that got brushed under the rug in the movie version in favor of keeping it to two hours, was the relationship between the parents of Susie, the main character.  In order to deal with their daughter's murder, Susie's mother leaves town and travels across the country, leaving her husband with their two younger children.  No communication is maintained between the couple during her lengthy absence.  But despite (or perhaps, because of) the distance and silence, their love grows.  Once ready, she returns home into the welcoming arms of her husband who carried not a shred of anger over her departure.  Their love for each other, no matter the expanse of time and space, grew stronger than it had ever been.

Sometimes I think we are capable of such sci-fi fantasies as time travel and teleportation.  Just maybe not in the physical realm.  But love can move outside time and space.  When my husband is gone for long periods of time, I can feel us getting closer, just in a different way from when he is here.  Sometimes I think we are the luckiest people because we get the best of both worlds.  Most people get to see their spouses every day.  They get that closeness that comes when you depend on someone so much that you don't even realize how much you need them.  And, others might live far away from the people they love and come to know well the way they see the other person- as perfectly sweet or beautiful or magical.  I get both.  I get to know my husband's quirks and routines, but I am never far from that magical version of him either.  It's like when you first like someone.  You don't get to see them often, so when you're not with them your thoughts are filled with their beauty and wonder.  You see them as this perfect being that takes you to this magical space.  Then once you start dating and you spend more time together, you get a more up-close view, and you become more familiar with the detailed them.  Maybe you get lost in the trees of their idiosyncrasies, and forget the forest that is their magic.  I am lucky.  I get to see the forest and the trees.

 Maybe we do have some super powers.

(One of mine is making time stop- through pictures.  Check out my newly posted pics at donavonf.com and flickr.com/dewindesigns!)