Saturday moment

while the land was still enveloped in an early morning fog
there was a rap rap rap on the door

our neighbour
looking for coffee and company

and so
while nibbling on still warm muffins
and watching the steam curl up from our cups
we sat by the water
comfortable in silence

and then his story
chapter by chapter
came out

this man is now 77 years young
born in Austria
he came to Canada in his late teens
to work on the pipe line

a true self made man
little formal education
his hands capable of doing almost anything

he fell in love with Canada
specifically the lake we both now share

he married
a girl from his Austrian home town
they had two sons

his wife was never happy here
soon she and the boys went back to Austria
and he followed to care for them ...........

but his heart remained in this land

and so even now
at the age of seventy-seven
he still comes back
alone
every summer
for three months ......

every log of his cottage
selected and put in his place himself

every stone in his garden
selected and put in place himself

the building looks very Austrian
in this very Canadian spot

and this sometimes gruff
tough
rough edged man
five years ago
became our neighbour

this is the one who led me to the poustinia

suddenly
softly
he opened the first page of his story

his mother worked as a maid
for a wealthy family in Germany
the son of this family became attracted to her
and she found herself pregnant
the family kicked her out
the son would have nothing to do with her

she somehow made her way back to Austria
where she gave birth to a baby boy

at three days
she gave her baby away to a farmer and his wife

and now seventy-seven years later
this man/child
sitting beside me
is weeping with all the "nevers" in his life

the touch of his mother
words of love
of acceptance
of well done
the hug of a dad
the name of his father

the farmer family fed him
clothed him
worked him
but were unable to love him

never receiving love
he has never learned how to give love

and my heart broke
at the seventy-seven years without love

so I shared the absolute fact that he had a Father
who loved him
who accepted him
who wanted him

the coffee and muffins long finished
he now feasted on the love of a Father

and this man
became a boy
listening to his Dad
loved by his Father

and the fog lifted
as the SON shone