The Bridge
Joy is a gentle and unexpected touch on my shoulder. The touch is accompanied by the appearance of a kind face. She does not speak my language. I do not speak hers.
Communication is easy though. We find it flowing naturally through gesture and expression:
It’s an arm extended to offer help.
It’s an enthusiastic nod of acceptance.
It’s a hand held over the heart in gratitude.
It’s appreciation conveyed in the form of a warm wave goodbye.
The unspoken exchange is over in a moment. Something about it though, leaves me with a floating feeling. I have the impression that we have given each other a small part of ourselves through a minor kindness. I feel open. I feel connected.
Maybe at first it’s hard to rationalize why. It’s small. That moment is so small, the interaction so brief that maybe it should really mean nothing?
My heart says…not true.
But, why?
It has nothing to do with the hotel you pick, or the monument that you visit, or the beach or the mountains or the itinerary. It’s a connection. And it’s found in the places and the moments that we least expect. We’re learning to feel it and we’re learning to appreciate it.
Have you felt it yourself?
It’s why we travel.
It’s why we go.
Behind the Story
On our last night in Curaçao, the kids and I had just finished eating dinner on the water in downtown Willemstad. Dad had to leave earlier that morning to make it back in time for work so it was just the three of us.
While eating, we had a great view of the famous floating Queen Emma Bridge. During dinner, we had a delightful show when a giant oil tanker needed to pass through the waterway right next to us. We watched the fascinating process of the floating bridge swinging open and the pilot and tug boats heading out into open water to retrieve the large oil tanker. Finally, the oil tanker was escorted safely through the waterway and the bridge was able to swing back closed. It was quite the event!
After dinner we went strolling back across the bridge to head home. At night, the bridge is lit up magically with multi-colored arches. With the sun setting in front of us, the scene was picture perfect.
While on the bridge, I was trying to get some photos of the kids when a lovely local woman tapped me on the back and offered to take a photo of the three of us. I hesitated for a moment not wanting to inconvenience her. I was also slightly tentative about passing my phone over to a stranger. Her enormous smile dissolved any initial hesitation. I’m so glad.
This is the setting for the story above. The resulting photo was not of the best quality but the effort that this woman put into capturing it for us makes it one of my favorites from our trip to Curaçao.
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