“It came over me that any woman who ever loves more than one man must carry forever with her, in her heart, a ghost.” —Janice Holt Giles
Cecilia was on a sojourn to Washington, D.C. and it was a beautiful Summer weekend. The Botanic Gardens were exceptionally pretty. She went to the Library of Congress and its gift shop. She saw a man’s tie and thought how beautiful it was with a design of small books so she bought it, thinking that in the future she would give it to her man as a special present.
Ten years passed and the tie sat in its box, wrapped with blue and white stripped wrapping paper and cobalt blue bow.
In those 10 years she began to date Harry and realized they could be friends and nothing more, which was fine with him so the tie sat. She went to a single’s dance and met a cardiologist who invited her to dinner. It was a pretty awful two hours because he talked about himself and never once asked her about her life, or, her work, or, her friends. He tried to kiss her good night and Cecilia pushed him away. Seven months later (think about that for a moment) he phoned and said he was going to Switzerland to a medical convention and would she like to go with him, all expenses paid! Is this man working with a full deck, she thought? I had one date with you seven months ago and now you phone? She told him no and hoped that would be the last of him.
The tie sat in the closet for another 10 years.
In those 10 years she had any number of suitors, none of whom worth her time, as it turned out. There was Michael, just angry from his divorce. There was Jack, who had no moral compass. There was Tom, still grieving over the loss of his fiancé who took spinal meningitis on a Sunday and was dead on Thursday. Tom was a good guy, but not ready for a new relationship. There was Bob, with six daughters to raise after his wife left him. Along came Scott who proved to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. An old friend from high school phoned, recently divorced after 35 years of marriage, who was quite charming at first, but a liar and drank excessively.
Cecilia wondered if there would ever be a man of intelligence and integrity who could love and be loved and who would receive the tie? She still had a heart of hope.
One morning she was planting flowers in her garden and a neighbor arrived to introduce himself. Steve seemed normal and a breath of fresh air. A pleasant conversation ensued. Two days later he stopped again and asked if she would like to have lunch with him. Cecilia said yes.
Dates followed to the Arboretum, on picnics, playing croquet in her front yard, laughing at the same things. They would watch old movies and eat popcorn. They would read on the patio, and sip iced tea, or lemonade.
“How love came in I do not know, whether by eye or ear. Or, whether with the soul it came,” wrote Robert Herrick. Cecilia thought about the tie as a perfect gift for their first Christmas together. He unwrapped it and put it on immediately and exclaiming how delightful it was. Cecilia told him where she bought it and how long it had been sitting in the upstairs closet.
Waiting. Just waiting for the right person and the right moment.