Trains

 

I posted the blog below a few months ago… it is one of my favorites because it is written about my husband. One of his favorite things in the world is music… and one of my favorite symbols of our life together is the train that I wrote about below.

Today is our wedding anniversary, and tonight will find us sitting in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater under the stars, less than a mile from the beach where we were married, listening to the band known as ‘Train.’  We could not have planned a more perfect evening in both literal and symbolic ways, and this small act of serendipity on the part of the Universe, feels to both of us, like a wink from the fates that originally brought us together.

Destiny is a funny thing…. and somehow I have no doubt, that nine years ago when we said our vows to one another, the universe already had tonight’s gig all planned out, and had our seats reserved.  When fate is the booking agent there is nothing else to do, but to show up and take your seat <3

 

The thing about trains, it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.

This morning as I sat in the velvety quiet of the predawn, I was able to hear the sound of a train in the distance. The train tracks that stretch across the town I live in are nowhere near my home, yet when the world outside is quiet, it is like the Universe cracks a window open and allows the sound to filter directly into our home.

Trains have been gentle messengers in my life for quite a few years now. The first time I remember being acutely aware of their dialogue was one early morning shortly after I had met the man who is now my husband. Awake and alone at 4am, I was writing down my thoughts and trying to figure out who this gentle giant of a man I had just met might really be. I was not in a particularly faith filled period in my life, and I wanted an itinerary before I signed up for any future adventures.

As I wrote down these words of query, that window of sound opened up and my home filled with the low and slow ambling of a distant train. Just as my question to the universe had risen into the ethers, so had the sound of that train’s whistle. I liked this pairing… and listened intently to the predictable and steadfast chug of that train.

The metaphor was not lost on me and I took the message to heart and decided that I was willing to get on board- take a chance- agree to move slowly forward with no itinerary. It was one of the best choices I have ever made in my life.

… that’s the thing about trains…. it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on.