Crystal clear

I had a great discussion last night with a man I met about a year ago.  It centered around a short story by Mary McCluskey called Before/After.  McCluskey is a really succinct writer.  Her comparisons are crystal clear and appeal to everyone's common experiences.

In our conversation, we talked of defining moments.  Both of us have had a few of those.  I have thought of this before and have narrowed mine to one a decade, but I only told of two.  He's a much younger man than I am, but his moments bore much similarity to mine.  That's partly due to McCluskey's genius in creating the universal nature of the human condition in the story.  But, partly it's due to similarity of personalities.

Each of us told two of the defining moments in our lives.  We spoke of someone we loved having to undergo cancer treatment and walking that journey with him (her in his case).  And we told of an experience in our younger years.  But we continued to talk and commiserate over a few other memorable moments without mentioning the specifics of the situations.

I enjoyed the discussion.  Afterward, I drove home under the cover of dark.  So, naturally, I had time for my mind to reflect on some of the conversation.  I couldn't help but think of the term we had used, defining moment, and link it to a sacred memory, sacred, sacred flashes across the mind's eye.  Sometimes I recall the time with a song that was popular then.

They drown me for sure.