In the scene the smile is silent,
the falling rain entering from the sky without drama. Such deep passion doesn’t
require a drum roll. That arrives in its partner, a grey sea, cleverly trying
to mimic the misty aura of the sky, teasing us. It kisses the shore, gentle one
minute, rolling in with pizzazz and splendour the next, the roar lifting from
the shingle to the hills above, tossing and turning playfully before
disappearing into the distance.
As I lie awake, in that other
place between here and now, I keep my eyes shut for another moment and join in,
my throat tickling and then exploding in a mimicked roar of laughter. I open my
eyes because I know that today, and for the next thirteen days the scene is
real.
I am here, I am one, I am at one.
I’m on Rathlin Island, the home
of my father and his father and his father before him...the home of my heart.
Life is different here.
My beautiful daughter is
with me, her limbs as entwined in Rathlin’s soil as mine, the chambers of her
heart rooted in the place we share with a knowing smile. My wonderful son,
father to the incredibly strong and resilient Harris, Mamo Margot’s grandson,
is arriving on Friday. It will be Harris’s first visit to the island. The
excitement is already trickling down my spine, knowing that he will step off
the boat, warm and safe in the shelter of his mother’s womb, to embrace his
Mamo’s spiritual home for the first time.
He’s still very sick, that’s not
going to change. His heart is structurally unsound, and as a consequence will
struggle to function when he enters the world in just a few weeks time. But we
still hope, and pray, that someone is watching over him, willing strength and
durability. Be that God, or be that his family, or the strong arms of Rathlin
Island, we will not give up on him.
We are all one.
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