Short December

This is a post I did not have a draft for, but nevertheless is essential to the timeline.  It is for time spent with Amin in December, which was short, since he was headed home during the holidays.  Yet, in just over a week, we had a couple of very memorable moments together.

For my birthday, my Dad gave me two tickets to see Loreena McKennitt, so that I could take whoever I wanted.  I forget at what point I told Amin that I wanted him to go with me; it might even have been before we started dating.  Knowing that he loved her music like I did, I could not think of a better person to treat to my concert birthday gift.  I had seen her during her Ancient Muse tour twice, and had been with various friends and relatives, so now it was his turn.  He felt a bit uncomfortable at first, until I explained that it was my gift, so it was my choice who I would bring, and that he should not feel strange about it.

So, on December 7th, the time had come for the Loreena concert.  I remember that we had seats pretty near the stage and I was really stoked when I saw the lantern before the performance started.  I called it: she was going to sing Dicken's Dublin.  She said it was the first time she tried it in concert, and hoped that technology would cooperate to incorporate the recording which she plays alongside the music in this piece.  Everything went off without a hitch, and it was magical.  Amin and I were simply thrilled as she played so many of our favourites.  It is still amazing for me to think that we grew up on opposite sides of the world and listened to the same music.  There were many tender moments holding hands and squeezing them as she intoned lyrics from Penelope's Song ("I will keep your heart with mine, Till you come to me"), or Never Ending Road ("Here is my heart, I give it to you, Take me with you across this land, These are my dreams, So simple and few, Dreams we hold in the palm of our hands").  I know we floated out of Place des Arts, a place that now had a couple of great associations for us.  I also remember killing time before catching my bus sitting with him in the deserted Complexe Desjardins and sharing many good kisses.

My sweetheart putting ornaments on the tree
like a pro
(Seems I broke my rule of never posting a
picture for you readers to ogle at... I'm
calling this an exception since he's in profile
and all you snoops can't figure out Amin's
real identity, or at least so I hope!)

December 9th, we invited Amin over for tree trimming.  He had expressed an interest in Christmas, and experiencing it with people who celebrate it, and experiencing it with me.  Of course, he was not going to be in Montreal over Christmas, so we had him join us for putting up the tree and decorating it.  He was really excited.  My sister's boyfriend was with us too, and it was his first time decorating too, so it was perfect.  The part that was a surprise for all of us, was how my Mom put on a small Christmas dinner for us that day.  She didn't even tell me that she planned to do this!  She cooked a chicken, and made many of the traditional fixings that go with turkey, I think some stuffing and cranberry, and mashed potatoes.  When I realized what she was doing, and all the work she was going to at such a busy time of year, I was really touched.  Amin was also really happy to have a taste of Christmas.  After supper, we even opened Christmas crackers and wore the hats and read our jokes.  It made parting for the
                                                                         holidays not feel half so bad.

One thing that really hit home as I saw Amin for the last time the day before his flight is that I am not good at saying goodbye.  I think we grabbed some tea for an hour or two, and we parted on a metro platform.  I don't even remember what I said, but it was not particularly apt.  I still don't think I'm very good with parting.  I think it might have started back when I was around 10 or so, and my kindergarten sweetheart Luke was moving to BC.  We actually refused to say goodbye, because we found it too sad.  I think that might have been my idea, and he was good to agree with me.  I have regretted that ever since, because I never got the chance to say goodbye and we have since lost touch.  He was one of my very best friends from childhood, and I never said goodbye.  So on the metro platform, I probably said something about seeing him in January or some such thing.  And as soon as I got on the metro, I felt really strange.  Like maybe in that moment, when I said whatever lame thing I said, it had not been real.  But it was real: he was leaving for a good month.  And I wasn't going to see him.  And I was going to miss him.  But I didn't say any of those things.  I just felt awkward.  It even feels awkward remembering this...