There are moments that we recognize as important even as we’re living them — there can be no doubt that the start of a pandemic or a war has huge significance.
And there are moments that only show their quiet meaning over the years, as their memories reappear again and again.
One such memory is from a road trip when I was a child. Traveling from France into Italy at night, my father driving, my mother and brother asleep, the car dark and warm, the street lights rhythmic in their passing patterns. Crossing from one country into another so quietly and peacefully.
There’s also the summer night a couple of years ago, after a good dinner hosted by friends in their low-ceilinged stone house, where we all walked out into the night and down the lane bordering their property. Everything appeared as flat planes in shades of gray, barely lit by the watery moon.
We walked in pairs, continuing conversations started around the table, no longer able to read each others’ faces, relying only on the sounds of the voices replying across the dark space between us. Our feet crunched steadily, the dog running back and forth between us. The world around us whole and lovely, we were entirely safe walking down a country road in the dark.
I’ve never feared for my life. I’ve never been caged in a city under violent siege. I’ve never had to run from home, not knowing what to carry, where I was going, or whether I would make it there alive. So many people in Ukraine are experiencing exactly that kind of fear and loss because of the Russian invasion.
For the next 10 days I’m donating 30% of all sales on my website, including gift cards, to Doctors Without Borders, who are providing essential medical supplies and treatment both on the ground in Ukraine and to Ukrainian refugees.
If there’s a piece of jewelry you’ve been eyeing, maybe now’s the time…