As the familiar sights and sounds flood over me so do the memories. It was the first movie we watched together. She had to work hard to persuade me to watch it with her but I ended up loving it as much as she did. We absorbed it and it became us in a certain way. It may seem naive or silly now but we found a deeper, personal meaning in the story and the characters and the songs. We would later quote from it and see ourselves as similarly fated star-crossed lovers.
But most of all it became our first tangible shared experience. Sitting in the dark cinema with her she had to keep telling me to focus on the film. I was too overwhelmed by her presence next to me. I remember it now as clearly as if it had been last week.
And you can tell everybody this is your song.
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind,
that I put down in words how wonderful life is now you're in the world.
Hearing these words now I remember how it as a time when love was something mad, wild and dreamy like a force of nature. I remember listening to the song and for the first time I understood what the character was singing about. I was delirious.
And even though a lot of things have changed since then - feelings and people - I still recall those moments and the feelings then. The film has become my memory aid. By watching it I can relive those days a bit. And though I am happy now I do feel a sting that all that is past now and will not come back. I want to be back there in that dark cinema and dream again. I cannot feel anymore like I did then. It's never quite the same again. The first time is and will always be special. Maybe it's a blessing for her that she has forgotten. Maybe I should too. But there will probably always be this pang of regret now that I didn't make it last forever the way I had meant to when we were sitting in that dark cinema together and listened to those magical words:
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return.
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