Friday, March 06, 2009

It felt like home

For a very brief moment.

I was driving to work this morning. I stopped at a red light. I was digging through my bag for my sunglasses and then I looked up. You know I grew up in Illinois, right? So, to my left was a huge truck with bales of hay. To my right was a pick-up truck, one of those really big ones I've only seen in the States. Big and black and shiny, like the man who owns it really takes care of it. I smiled, it was odd to see those things in downtown Laval, France.

People are like that too, aren't they? You hear a voice and it's a sound that makes you feel like you've come home. And it's a sound you'd recognize anywhere, forever, no matter how long it's been since you last heard it.

Or they say something, something only they would say, and it feels so familiar, so them - even if they've never said it before, and so grounding that some part of you sighs in relief. That magnet moment when you are touched by where you are known and who knows you.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean. Glad you had a brief moment of "home" feeling. For me, it's bed linens that are line dryed - you may remember that Grandma Inez didn't believe in dryers and - line dryed everything and I loved the smell of her linens - that smell is pure home!

Anonymous said...

Julie shared this with me today. I know exactly what you mean...and I think that she does too.

Nicole said...

Beth - I miss Grandma Inez.

Eric - It's when the door slams open. Nice to meet you Eric.

Anonymous said...

Nice to meet you as well Nicole, although it seems quite odd that given the circumstances of 1994 that we has never met before. Gravity Bar was one of my favorite haunts...that and Julie's apt. I lived at First and Virginia 1990-1992. C'est la vie, as they say in your neck o' the woods...

Anonymous said...

Me too, Grandma Inez and Grandpa Mike were two of a kind and I really miss them every day. I wish they could have met my girls - Gramp would have loved that they have his light eyes - blue!

Nicole said...

Eric - We probably did - I worked behind the juice bar most of the time. But apparently you were only there for juice and Julie, not chatting with the juicer behind the counter. I took no offense apparently.

Beth - agreed. I have only the fondest memories of both of them. And don't even get me started on the food!