I don't do memes; in fact, I am violently allergic to them and have only done one in my whole life...but this, this is different. For a start, it isn't really a meme, and secondly, I wasn't tagged, I just stole it...
Oh and thank you to The Weblog Review who have reviewed me, and come back positive - many thanks!
I figured, as I had chemo today that it would be a wonderful surprise coming back and reading your comments so here goes...
Imagine that you have met me before - tell me where it was and what we were doing...Elaborate as little or as much as you like, and remember,the more imaginative the better but please, keep it clean... I am already dreaming of faraway pagodas.....
Minerva
20 comments:
It was a drizzly Autumn day when we first met. The kind of day when the world is cast with grey, downtrodden and damp. I'd spent the morning at work, and was drained and exhausted when I dropped into Project X for a cup of Oregon Chai Spiced Latte Tea. Bypassing the chrome tables and chairs in the front window, I wound my way to the back of the room, heading for the squishy red leather sofas tucked away between bamboo screens and enormously well-tended parlour palms. The young, trendy student behind the counter wandered over, greeting me with friendly recognition - this was a regular haunt of mine - and we shared a laugh as I ordered my regular. In the background, the faint strains of Led Zeppelin drifted through and I hummed silently along. It was a few seconds before I realised someone was humming along with me and I sneaked a glance around the side of my sofa. There you were, resplendent in cherry red, unselfconsciously losing yourself. Smiling to myself I turned to look away at the exact moment that you looked my way and laughed.
'I couldn't resist', you said.
Good luck today, Minerva xx
I'm in Harvey Nicks, on the third floor. It can be lonely shopping alone - particularly when you're looking for something really special. You just need another woman's eye, a valuable second opinion...
And this certainly was special, the wedding of my closest girlfriend from college.
So I've found this gorgeous Ghost dress, diaphonous Chinese silk, with tiny flowers, floaty and soft, with the hem just above the knee. It costs a fortune...more than I've ever spent before on a dress. The sales girl who was hovering moments ago is now engaged at the cash desk with a Middle Eastern woman whose store card won't work, leaving me standing by the mirror shifting my weight from one foot to the other, wishing I'd worn different shoes, wondering about my little jade earrings...
And then there you are...
You're on your way to the Fifth floor cafe to meet an old friend and afterwards maybe nose about in the Foodmarket among the impossibly priced pastas and hundreds of varieties of implausibly named olives...
You've got some time to kill, so you're wandering around the store a little, though I get the feeling this isn't a natural habitat for you.
But you see me and you just know I need help. You smile at me, and stop for a moment...I see you first in the mirror as you come up behind me.
"You look absolutely beautiful" you say "Get it."
"Do you think?" I say, gingerly.
"Definitely" you say, warmly, and then you're off, long hair swinging...
And I'm left beaming...
:-)
Cocktails on the beach in Koh Samui last September...
my most favourite place in the world, and now it is yours too. We are planning on going back next September when you are all better.
xxx
I'm sitting at a sidewalk coffee shop in the Coconut Grove section of Miami. My boxer/lab sits beside me watching people pass by. Her tail begins to wag, and I see you putting out your hand for her to sniff. From the look on your face I can tell you like dogs.
When you say, "She's lovely" I hear your British accent and comment how much I love England from so many visits there.
We chat briefly about my favorite area, the Cotswolds. Then you beam a genuine smile, pat my dog's head, tell me to have a good day and you walk away. I watch you cross the street, soaking in the warmth of the sun, positive energy flowing from you and I think, "Now there's a person I'd like to know better."
This is so exciting - I have learnt so much about all of you...
Terri - I LIVED in Coconut Grove for two years..and loved it when we moved to america...That is where I was living when Hurricane Andrew struck...How amazing you chose there...
Kylz - That is right..Didn't we have my birthday there? And if we didn't, we sure are this year!
Jo,
And you know what? It did look stunning and I remember thinking how wonderful those earrings and shoes you had picked out looked with it...I remember thinking how you had such a natural sense of style that the lack of self confidence seemed at odds with it...so was thrilled to just push you a little..
Deadly,
That weather was completely disgusting, I agree..And I laughed when I saw you, as I knew how you would instantaneously join in...and you did..That was one of the marvellous moments where complete strangers touch one another and share...
Thank you....
Thank you all, I do love this game...
Minerva
How was your day Min? They didn't try and give you the wrong stuff again?!
we were lounging around at monmouth coffee at Borough, talking blogs. we then wandered by the tate modern in search of some wi-fi to steal...and messed around with the digital camera.
Actually when i did meet you for the first time you were very friendly and made the effort to pull me into conversation...
Whoops better get back to work, my boss just walked in.
Jo - doctor, bloodtest,needles, drip, drip stuck, more needles, dizziness, nausea, walked out...just about sums it up *grin*
And only 2 to go!! YIPPEE!!
Fen - BAD GIRL..... *grin* Get to work...
Minerva
oh it's ok he walked out again!
i hope you aren't feeling to awful. i had better get back to my job of objectifying women. i will move on...
I can't shake this image of me lying in the roadside having been knocked off my feet by some bicycle-riding maniac with long hair, talking into a cellphone arranging a date for that evening....
hmmmm. I need to up my meds.
Lx
Just checked in to see how you were doing post-chemo.
Like George Washington said, "I cannot tell a lie." Hate to disappoint you...but I'd read somewhere that you'd lived in Miami. Hence, that's why I wove Coconut Grove into my little fictional story of meeting you.
Feel well and take good care of you over this week.
We were traveling storytellers who arrived in Alexandria at the same time and met in one of the Great Halls of the Royal Library of Alexandria, Egypt. It was the custom for storytellers arriving in Alexandria to pay a visit to the Royal Library, to have their stories transcribed and added to the vast library holdings.
Sun drenched beach in the outer rim of corsacant. Both moons are shining brightly.
The liquid crystal is lapping at the beach, I walk stealthly up to you, lay my hand on your sholder.
As you turn your eyes meet mine in great anticipation, the words come quickly for me.
Mam would you like another martini ?
oh thank you young man !!
Hi Minerva, I'm here pretty much by accident, I say "pretty much" as a friend told my sister of your site, she had breast cancer 26 years ago, I just popped in to see you and found that you are doing the same non meme that I've just done, like you I loved it.
I hope your life improves beyond even your hopes in 2006.
All the best
Actually, we never met. I had seen you so many times before; something about you, one among so many others here there everywhere, but each time I saw you I noticed only you; the rest were simply a blurr of a crowd. The boys were younger and the girls babies; it is a wonder I noticed anything other than 8 little hands. Kept counting them, one, two, three, four; can't loose the youngest; she's strapped to me.
Then you were gone. Either you never noticed me or were too kind to stare, slack-jawed, at the specatcle that is 4 wild children and one crazed mother.
Again I saw you, but this time I just had the baby. She was sleeping and I was enjoying time to "myself" and simply watching. You were nose deep in a book; a big thick one that made me think you were miles more intelligent than I could ever aspire to. I left quickly, not wanting the baby to wake and disturb you. Did you notice the old man, dozing with his paper who kept smiling each time he awoke to see you, still there, still reading, still brightening his day?
I thought you were a single professional woman until the last time I saw you, giggling with your girls, laughing at their antics and stories and completely enraptured in their being. One of them ran up to my baby girl and gave her a leaf. Finally our eyes met. Did you recognize me? I'll never know. The baby shat all over me and I ran for cover. :)
It was when we were both at University -- a mixer of sorts between our two campuses.
You were the one into whom I accidentally bumped on the dancefloor, reducing us both to a pile of giggling girly, under the influence of Kronenborg X, and a single malt whisky chaser.
You were the one with whom i spent the entire evening, laughing and joking and having the best time.
You turned out to be the one who lived in the room next to the one in which i was bunking for the weekend.
You were the one with whom i sat up all night after the party in the bar, drinking more beer and water alternately, smoking and talking about everything under the sun... boys and make-up in particular, but also literature, films, travel...
You were the friend i was born to have. No, you are the friend i was born to have.
And i love you.
Congrats on your good review with the Weblog review.
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It is a perfect day with clear blue skies, warm breezes, and puffy cumulus clouds shaped like various animals floating through the sky. And we are at the best beach in the world, Waimea Bay on Oahu. The water is deep, still, and refreshing. After swimming a while, the jumping rock at the edge of the beach catches my eye--will this finally be the day that I overcome my fears and join those who are plummeting 3 stories into the bay below? I gather my nerves and make my way up the sandy path leading to the pinnacle of the crag. And then it happens--my fear of falling takes over me and I freeze, my eyes watering and my legs rubbery. I begin to concede defeat and turn around to walk back down the rock--then I see you at the back of the crowd, with the same "deer-in-the-headlights" look that I have. You, however, are not so willing to concede defeat, as your girls are standing on the beach, cheering for your triumphant plunge into the bay. Something stirred in you when our eyes met, and you reached out your hand...
I took your hand and WE JUMPED, your girls screaming and laughing the whole time. We swam back to the beach and went our separate ways, but I would be forever grateful to you as the person who helped me to overcome my most paralyzing fear...
We met when the Publishers Clearing House came to my home by mistake with a bunch of balloons and a dozen roses.
"Congratulations!" They said. "You've just won a million dollars, Minerva!"
My elation fizzled.
"Minerva. I think she lives next door," I said flatly.
Suddenly, you came running over in your robe and wooly hat.
"Me? I won a million dollars? But poor Lucinda! I insist on giving her half because of the mix-up!"
Our picture was taken together, shaking hands and grinning, and then holding an oversized check in front of us.
We've been friends and shopping companions ever since.
Dear Minerva ~~ Your writing is so special, as I am sure you are very special too. My name is Merle & I am Peter's sister and Marcus' aunt. I have read your blogs over some months. I had breast cancer 26 years ago, Had a radical mastectomy but that was all. No chemo as you are suffering
I was very fortunate and made changes in my life, got a divorce
and married a second time, only to
become a widow 6 years later.
So life goes on after cancer as I
am sure it will for you.
My very best wishes & prayers for
your full recovery. Courage girl.
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