5 While the Flowers Blossomed

Transcript

Judy

I'm having quiet time on my favourite bench, watching the world go by. My 99 ice cream is running down my hand as I’ve spent so much time people-watching.

This is where we met and fell in love while the flowers blossomed. We never argued here but knew it was the right place to make up and start over again.

Children run past and we want to shush them as they shout loudly enjoying the sun, but we don’t. We pray for rain or their parents to come along and take them away so we can go back to enjoying our time together. We talk about the times we shared on the bench and I can’t help hoping that you have not been with someone else on this bench.

You have to go to work so you leave me here. I pick up my book and start to read and relax on my new favorite bench.

The bench looked like a wisdom tree of benches, inviting you to sit and look for answers to questions that make you sad. It puts you at ease.

This bench is here for solace when you want to be alone, to read or meditate, or just relax, maybe have a nap. It brings happiness so you can sit alone and people-watch or share it with family and friends. It’s beautiful here. It can be quiet enough for a parent to reprimand a child without everyone seeing, so that when you make up you can envelop the child in your arms and the child knows it is safe.

A safe place, a haven in a busy borough.