This weekend I’ll be at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. 8 stages, over a hundred bands, but to me it is so much more.
Last October, my best friend (and fellow widow) and I ventured out on the green grass, drinking wine from sports bottles, listening to amazing music, having a grief/stress free time.
Of course, since Michael’s death I’ve had many days that way. Worry free, almost to the point where I forget that he’s even dead, but what differentiated that festival weekend from anything else was the affect it had once the 3 days were over.
You see, after Michael died, the future was unbearable fathom. Minute by minute was as far as my mind and heart could comprehend. As time passed I could maybe look a month or two ahead, but after ACL happened the amazing happened. I went and bought tickets for the next year’s festival over a year in advance.
I couldn’t believe it, but it felt so good. 2 years after my soul mate’s passing, I had seen the possibility of looking forward to something not only in the future…but a year in the future!
So you see, this weekend is more than a music festival, it is a marker of what has allowed me to see and plan and get excited for life again. It is 3 days, that year ago allowed me to look 365 days ahead, allowing me to be set free from the fear of having to face another second without my other half
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“My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there”
-Charles F. Ketering
**Written Oct. 2010. This was my post from ACL 2010. I’m here for my third year with three of my favorite widows and all the same feelings exist 🙂 **