Main Street

On Tuesday evening, with Gaagoo sleeping on her bed, Julia found it challenging to sleep and impossible to think of anything other than Robert. Denise, Julia's devoted grandmother, had decided to make an unscheduled trip across town to see her granddaughter on the eve of what might prove to be an interesting day. Denise, an incomparable romantic who has a fascinating loving heart and had an incredible courtship with Julia's grandfather, Kyle, was caught up in this scenario of Julia's first (sort of) date with this boy named Robert. When Denise arrived at their North Main Street home, Emma (Denise's daughter and Julia's mother) told Denise that Julia was in her bedroom, already in bed. Denise slowly walked up the long staircase, thinking about the expectations of a young girl on the eve of a first date with a young man. She paused for a moment and remembered a day never to be forgotten in her life when she and Kyle met after over ten years of searching for each other. Now she recalled the nervousness of that night. Many years later, here was her pretty granddaughter on the precipice of her first meeting with a young man. Denise entered Julia's room, smiled warmly at her, and sat on the edge of her bed. Julia grabbed her grandmother in a loving embrace and then, pushing her back so she could communicate, signed, "Grandma, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I do really like him." Trying hard not to laugh, "I know, child, believe me, I know," responded Denise. Julia signed, "What do I do, grandma"? Denise, having always been blessed with compassion and wisdom, "Julia, there are many life lessons, one of them is that we never know when a blessing is right around a corner. Initially, your teacher asked you to give this boy a helping hand. According to you, it led to daily tutoring that has already born fruit. Julia, you are an exceptional student, and by helping this student, you are helping yourself, discovering so much of what is deep inside of you. These are your God-given gifts. You are climbing forever up and growing as a woman. The best way to look at it is that you are "lifting (Robert) while climbing." "Julia," Denise continued, "… don't get ahead of yourself. You are about to lift Robert to a level where he might be able to pass Algebra II. Do him that service. If you have feelings for him, that's wonderful and something to experience for the first time in your life, but the task is to help him, and he does need your help. That's your purpose. Stay true to it." Denise looked at her granddaughter and stood up to leave. Julia grabbed her left hand and pulled her back to the side of the bed, imploring an answer to her heart's burning question. She signed, "Grandmother, please tell me. How do you know if you love someone"? In a moment of retrospection, Denise harkened back to a much earlier time in her life. Vividly she remembered a day when she met a shy boy who was all too often the target of ridicule because he sought only to be left alone. Now, as a grandmother, she recalled the mistakes she made at Julia's age, specifically, how misdirected her teenage judgment had been, opting for a popular and attractive boy only to discover the golden bliss of love with that almost forgotten young man who searched for her for over a decade. Denise now drew the curtain back on that love in a flashing remembrance. For it was the love of the once marginalized boy, Kyle, now her husband of many years, that brought forth the blessed lives of Emma, her daughter, Julia's mother, and Alexander, Denise and Kyle's son. Filled with conflicted tears of fear for her granddaughter's vulnerable heart and the beauty that lies within a singular love, Denise spoke to Julia of love in the only words that came to her. Denise slowly ran her fingers along Julia's long auburn hair, looking into her eyes. Dear one, love is ever-present in life because love is what you give, not what you get. It is easy to bask in the good feelings of received love, but what makes love the most perfect of life's gifts is to realize that love is less an emotion and more of an act of will. Beyond that, to answer your question … "How will you know if you love someone"? Denise sighed and softly smiled, "Falling in love sometimes begins with the mere whisper of a word or a gentle rain falling on your face as you feel the presence of someone without a touch. You will know, you will know my little one … when you look upon a boy's face and see something that is "beauty" to you. It will not be his nose, the dimple on his left cheek, or the tiny scar above his right eye, although you will note the minute location of each. Your heart will connect with your eyes and all of your senses, and there will be the incandescent fragrance of something indefinable. Then in a whisper of an unspoken word from lips that make no sound, there will be a warmth as from a sustained summer breeze that will envelop you, maybe for all times. There is no singular answer to the doorway that is love. You will love in many ways. For some of those ways, it will mean giving of yourself when you know you truly give. You will know love by what you see and what you hear, not in the brashness of lightning bolts or fireworks; instead, the smile that appears on your face when no one is looking or by the fullness of your heart when you need to hear that special someone's voice. Julia's eyes were illuminated in the need to understand that which is not understandable with words alone. She signed, "… but grandmother, will his touch be different from anyone else? What will it feel like … my hand in his? Will I be changed because he touched me"? The insightful Denise slightly bowed her head, smiled, and considered that poets, artists, and philosophers have been trying to define the mysteries of love for centuries. All efforts to explain the manifestation of love will always fall short as "love" is for each heart to discover, feel, and share with another. Here she was talking with a teenager who was just beginning to be pierced sweetly in the heart by another. It was time to end this discussion, say good night, and allow the cloak of first sleep to lead to a slumber of peaceful dreams. Denise kissed her granddaughter on the forehead and turned out the light on her nightstand, leaving with, "Julia, whatever tomorrow brings will be exactly as it is meant to be. Help Robert. Ask nothing more of the moment". As Denise slowly descended the staircase, she was captivated by the innocent charm of the upcoming tutoring session. Before departing, her daughter Emma hugged her and stated, matter of factly, "Mother, you will be here tomorrow." Denise looked at her daughter and responded, "If you need me here." Emma answered, "I think Julia needs you here. I know I just want my mother here, as you have always been there for me". "If you wish, but we need to give them their space. I'm sure there is someplace in this huge house we can hide out, between 6:30 to 7:30 pm. As Julia dressed for school the following morning, her thoughts were beyond the new school day. There was no mention of anything related to the coming evening at breakfast with her parents. Scott, her father, talked with Emma, his wife, about his plans for the day and reminded her that he would be arriving home after 7:00 pm and not hold dinner for him as he would grab something to eat on the way home. Emma reminded her husband that Julia was expecting a guest this evening to help him with his math and that this student would probably be there when he got home. As Julia picked up her bag in the foyer, opening the front door to walk to school, she looked back at her mother, who winked and asked, "Are you ready"? Julia just smiled and headed out to Main Street for the fifteen-minute walk to the high school.