Today, as I was walking to the grocery store, I heard someone playing the piano. I’ve heard them once in a while, and I’m never sure if it is student or a professional pianist, for the music is always divine. Today I didn’t want to stop in the street just to listen, thinking I would hear it on the way back. The notes echoed in my mind as I moved down the street, such a welcome relief from the usual shrieking parrot just across the street. Unfortunately, there was no more music when I passed by on the way home. It made me sad, and reminded me of how much I love hearing the piano well played. One of my few regrets I have in my life (for I really love my life) is not having continued studying the piano. I never overflowed with talent, but I do know that with continual study I could have arrived at a certain level of competence. I well know that it’s never too late to study again, but for one thing a piano is not in my budget and is terribly expensive. For another, the real window of learning has long since past, and while I might still learn some, I know I would never get very good.
As I continued walking, I looked up the street where my eyes had met with such a tragic site this morning. As João and I left the house early, we saw lots of police cars, ambulance and a conglomeration of people. We saw a car with a broken windshield and thought, of course, that undoubtably there had been a hold-up, all things being considered. That’s typical here in Rio, but we asked around and they pointed out to us a pool of blood and body covered by a tarp. We discovered a gentlemen who lives just a couple of blocks away, was crossing the street and a car was coming out of the garage and turning into the street at full speed. You understand the rest. It was such a sad site. I couldn’t help thinking of the family… their father and husband left his house to buy some bread probably, and they receive the news that he is killed in a car accident.
Life is short. And this weekend I was also reminded of what is really important. João had a couple of really bad nosebleeds that were very scary, although as it turns out not really that serious. It’s not like I don’t know I love him, but I was reminded again that how very precious he is to me. Sometimes we are not as careful as we should be to treat our loved ones with the tenderness they deserve. It is so easy to be inconsiderate in words and actions. I have been trying to care for João in big and little things so he will get better soon. We think, by the way, that he is better because today he finally had no nosebleeds.
Everyday, every minute counts. I don’t want to waste my life. There are so many small joys that are easily missed. There are so many small gestures of love everyday. And it really is the small things that count. So this evening, when I heard João talking to Mia, I grabbed the camera and filmed him playing with her. It was only about a minute, but it was one of those small things, small moments. Certainly Mia’s use of the tape measure as an “enemy snake” is a lot better than the reason it was out. We had been measuring our waist size to see if we were in the healthy range (do I need to add that I am not?). So enjoy Mia playing around. And make the little things count.
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