#SOL16: I Want to Hold Your Hand

The Love Letter (M.A. Reilly, 2014)

I. 

Sometimes I think the way Rob and I hold hands is its own form of Morse Code. A light squeeze means, Hello, I'm here. A firm squeeze suggests a strong definition of love. A holding on well beyond a 5-minute mark suggests a desire to heal. Holding hands while using a thumb to lightly rub suggests a desire to comfort.  For the last 6 months, we have learned new ways to communicate--ones that have arisen alongside emerging needs and drama. So it wasn't so strange that this afternoon while Rob and I were holding hands that we ended up singing a more ballad than pop version of The Beatles, I Want To Hold You Hand to one another.

And when I touch you  

I feel happy inside  

It's such a feeling 

that my love

I can't hide,

I can't hide,

I can't hide

II.

Our song fit into an afternoon of song.  I had gone upstairs at noon to sleep.  The last time I had slept was Friday evening and I was dragging. An hour later I came downstairs and Jane was all laughter saying to me that "I just had to hear the sing along" they had going. And there surrounding Rob who was sitting upright in his bed were Jane, her husband, Robyn and my brother, Jack. Jane had her laptop open to YouTube and as one of them would suggest a song, Jane would quickly find a version of it, hit play, and the group would then sing--none of them actually knowing all the words. Rob was being dopey and the group was so very pleased with itself.

III.

Love finds expression in the raw timber we have available.