Tag Tuesday - The Deep; And a Story: TO BE OR NOT

For today's Tag Tuesday, the theme is The Deep, as in deep in the ocean or the deep blue sea. I actually had started this tag sometime back for something else, but didn't like how it was turning out so I put is aside and did another one. I found it again a few days ago, and had new insight in what I wanted to do with it and this is the result. I remember reading not too long ago about how having to straighten up your studio could be a blessing in disguise because you may uncover something that brings a creative spark and that's just what happened! Sometimes I'm happy that I find it difficult to throw away things. :)

(click for detail)

For information on how I made it, and to join in the Tag Challenge, click here. We always love to have new people join the challenge!

To Be Or Not

Eighteenth in the Tuesday Story Series

My husband John and I met when he moved in next door to my roommate and me on the Isle of Palms. I liked him from the beginning (wasn't that convenient!) and after knowing each other for a couple of months, he asked me out to dinner several times and each time was a delightful evening. I gleaned from our conversations that I was older than he and that bothered me a bit. Not because he was five years younger, but because I thought once he knew I was older, the age difference might bother him. So the subject never really came up, but I knew sooner or later, it would.

One particularly lovely Autumn evening, we were driving back to the islands after a fresh seafood dinner and the conversation turned to theatre. John mentioned that he had often participated in such activities during his high school years, and that he had memorized several passages from Shakespeare. John is an engineer and it is not a common thing for an engineer to like theater, art and classical music, all of which were part of John's life. I expressed surprise about the Shakespeare and asked him if he remembered anything. He immediately launched into Hamlet's soliloquy from act three, scene one, speaking with no hesitation as we crossed the connecting bridges to the sea islands.

After he had finished, I was very impressed and I told him so. He smiled at me and there was a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then, he said "You know, I know you are a bit older than me, do you mind if I ask how old you are?" 

"Oh no!" I thought, "here it comes." And saying a quick prayer, I simply said "I'm thirty-two."

"No, no," he replied, not believing me, "it's ok, how old are you really?"

"I'm thirty-two."

"Oh, c'mon, it's ok- just tell me."

"I'M THIRTY-TWO!!!!!"

Dead silence. We crossed the last bridge connecting the islands and he turned down our street. "Well, that's it." I thought, "It's obvious that he is bothered by the age difference." And we said goodnight and I went through the front door, into my room and starting crying. My roommate came in and was saddened to hear my tale of woe, and she started crying too.

The next day there was a knock at the door, and there stood John. I was happily surprised and invited him in, telling him that after the night before, I thought he wasn't interested in seeing me again. It was then that he told me that his fear was that I would think he was too young for me and he had to come back and make sure! 

And the rest, as they say, is history!!

Rebecca