When I was seven, my mother bought me a black velvet dress for my birthday. It had a white collar with white cuffs on the small puff sleeves.
I felt like a princess, and couldn’t stop rubbing my hands over it. Mother told me to stop doing it, as I would ruin it.
My stepfather Joe said he would take me and my brothers to the park. As we left the house, my mother said not to give me any ice cream.
We played on the swings for a bit and then Joe brought my brother’s some ice cream.
I walked away, wondering if he would do as he was told. I didn’t go far, for I hoped I knew better than that and I was right. Joe handed me an ice cream, telling me to please be careful.
I said I would, but what child can eat an ice cream without getting it down themselves? Not me anyway. I kept rubbing at it, making it worse. The velvet was sticking up where I had rubbed it and there was no way to hide it.
All the way home, I wished Joe would run away with us, but he told me not to worry. He would say it was his fault, which in a way it was for buying it for me. I know that’s an unkind thought, but when we got home before he could say a word, mother ripped the dress from my body, leaving her nail marks on my back because the fabric was too hard to tear.
Joe got both barrels of her temper until I thought his ears would swell and drop off.
This memory has returned, because my daughter who lives next door, was playing a song I haven’t heard for a long time. It was one of my favourites, called Black Velvet.
It’s a funny old life isn’t it, the way old memories come back?
You read about families where everyone is happy and life is wonderful.
That wasn’t my family.
My mother coped patiently with a drunken, obsessive gambler of a husband and a daughter with an insatiable sexual appetite. I loved my father, but he kept us one step away from the poor house. Loving my sister was harder, basically because she hated me and constantly brought trouble to the door.
Me? I couldn’t wait to grow up and live my own life.
Then everything changed. Unbelievably, Dad won a guest house in a card game and suddenly we were off to a new life in Cornwall. A beautiful place, steeped in legend and mystery. Would trouble leave us alone now, or was it merely biding its time?
Trailer:
Trailer:
You will probably wonder at my unlikely choice of video, but the words of the song really echo the essence of Anita’s book. At least, I think so.
Her true face hidden by opaque layers of cloud and sulphuric acid.
This doesn’t sound too pleasant for the Goddess of Love.
What lies beneath her shimmering clouds?
What secrets does she hide?
So often, the true face of love goes unrecognised in the daily grind.
How many of us have let go of that one person that should have stayed in our lives? What of those small acts of love we so often brush aside in our hurry to get on with our day.
Would that we could put love in a bottle and keep it with us. Spray it on our wrists in times of stress. A new kind of Rescue Remedy?
Times up, Mercury is calling me…
As I look back towards Venus, our closet Planet, I feel her blue shimmer reach for me, reminding me that love is a lot closer than we think…
I will start my journey on Earth because this is where we all live.
Our wonderful Planet swims on the edge of the Milky Way like a newborn waiting for mother’s milk.
We live on this magic ball, spinning on its axle like a trapeze artist.
On occasion, there is a wobble, and I often wonder if this wobble coincides with those wobbly moments in my own life. Like any good trapeze artist, I re balance and stay on course.
There are too many beautiful things to see and do, so many beaches to visit, warm seas to swim in and beautiful sunsets that should never be missed.
So many people to converse with and learn their way of life.
Long may our Earth continue to spin in our spiral Galaxy.
I am off now, to see what I can find in this perfect alignment…
As I look back towards Earth, I see the Northern Lights and my soul is baptised by the glorious colours of the dancing river of lights…
I am now heading towards Mars… Please join me on my journey tomorrow ?
Whenever I am down or feeling one of many shades of blue, I usually need a piece of music to get my soul moving again. I have had many favourites over the years, both songs and instrumental, but this piece has kept me going now for years.
I defy anyone listening to it, to ignore the challenge it presents. The challenge to rise above yourself and take wing is overpowering and always fixes all my broken bits.
So today, on this special day of resurrection, I pass on to you my gift of a moment I will remember forever…
