This week’s prompt over at Carrot Ranch ( http://www.carrotranch.com ) was to write a 99 word (no more, no less) flash fiction about a park bench using one of the times shown on a gif. Having completed one, this pedometer geek was suddenly inspired to write another one based on a couple in our small city.
23:30
Young and vibrant, the couple first met when he was a sailor on one of the Great Lakes ore boats. He was the ship’s cook, and she, a teacher.
Whenever he came into Huron, the pair met at the park overlooking Lake Erie. Over time, their love grew with kisses, cuddles, and poetry. Eventually, they married, settling here.
Sixty-four years later, they celebrate once again. She has dementia; he has Parkinson’s, but their love is still strong.
In the park where they once met is a bench with a dedication to them: “The sailor comes home from the sea.”
Nancy Brady, 2020
To see more, 99-word flash fictions or write your own, check out the blog at http://www.carrotranch.com.
On New Year’s Eve, AKA Hogmanay, a dear friend, my husband, and I had the pleasure of dining with them as they celebrated their sixty-fourth anniversary.
nbsmithblog...random digressions and musings 
How wonderful! All the best to them 🙂
I also didn’t quite know what it meant so I looked it up; The word Hogmanay is thought to have first been used widely following Mary Queen of Scots’ return to Scotland from France in 1561. Dr Heddle said: “That is when it is first recorded in dictionaries. It is of doubtful origin and may come from the French word ‘hoginane’ – gala day.
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When you have a second generation Scot, you learn these things. The first time I heard the word Hogmanay, I immediately asked: How many hogs does it take? Despite or because of my weird humor, we are still together. Lucky me!
The couple is lovely; it is a shame that they are having such a difficult time right now. Getting old is not for wimps, that’s for sure. He is one of our city’s poets laureate; he is an artist, too. We saw the plaque on the park bench long before we knew them. I also wrote about her mother long before I knew who she was, too. That’s the advantage of being an import–I don’t know the stories so I can make them up.
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Very sweet!
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Thanks, EtM. Glad you stopped by.
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