For a long time, maybe years, the sign that lights up the movie theater in this small town was missing two letters, the last two letters didn't light up at night. So instead of Fairfax, it read Fairf.
Every time Gary and I drove past this sign we would laugh, and say the word
Fairf out loud, because it was fun to say. We never minded really. In fact when they finally got around to repairing the bulbs, we kinda missed the old Fairf sign.
Fairfax is adjacent to the town where we once lived, a place where we were married, where we began our life together, where all three of our children were born in homes within a mile of one another, where we had friendships that we nurtured, where Gary was a successful music teacher, where I taught private art lessons to kids, where Gary and I hiked many miles on forest trails and around lakes, and after Skylar was born had her in tow in a baby backpack. This is also where I befriended a lady who had a tile store and got her discarded slate and marble for free, so much of it that I was able to make a 30 foot mosaic wall in our backyard. And where I learned how to garden and batik and grow strawberries and sugar snap peas. It was where our love began.
So this summer it was very wonderful to revisit these beautiful places and take our children there. We hadn't been there since 2008. We took them to see Gary's first house, and our old house, and the redwood forest Gary took me to the day we met, and all sorts of other places. Everything was a little magic and special. I love that feeling.
