The One About One More Year
Context: a grey Wednesday, a woman washing up the dishes in her forever house in an oversized village somewhere in the East Midlands while listening to The Girls cast recording.
If you’d asked me in March 2010 where my forever house would be, I wouldn’t have said this one. I’d have told you how I watched Escape Down Under and Googled visa requirements for working in Australia. If you’d asked me years before that, I’d have said some Midwest American city near the lakes. Rewind a bit further and 14 year old me would have painted you the picture I described in the setting above. A sink with a view… (in my dreams, the sky was bluer and the sun shone more!)
And now, today, I stand listening to Yorkshire and reflect that “same place as we stood last year” is where I want to be. What hurts about that image is the thought that it might not be the same place. I’ll still be standing here. But the things that have changed from 2010 might change again. Times, and people, move on.
Last night, I watched the Black Mirror episode San Junipero. It sparked a discussion about where I’d choose to spend forever. San Junipero looked an amazing choice. So, I’m taking that message into my day. That perhaps the forever place I dream of will be a Dales version of San Junipero…. And that there, I’ll stand each September, in the same place. A green and pleasant land amongst the people who’ve turned a house into a forever home.