If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

This is the story I wrote where named myself Breve. It is mostly true.

Breve was wildly excited about this evening. He finished a long run along the C & O canal earlier in the day. The endorphins seemed to stay with him the entire day. It was a picture-perfect spring day in Northern Virginia. Lovers, runners, and street vendors were active because spring burst brilliantly upon the scene. The blossoms on the Potomac River were extra special this year. He noticed events such as this when interspersed with the endorphins in a budding relationship. He and Gabrielle had been dating for the last month and a half. Up until this point in his life, he formed relationships on a day-by-day basis. He was never great with relationships and always seemed to screw this up now. This juncture was different than most as he did what he tried to avoid his entire adult life. He had fallen head over heels for Gabby to the point of distraction. He always thought this was the lore of tacky love stories. But it happened to him, and he was an ebullient ray of obnoxious sparkling sunshine.

 

He picked out a cheap little Indian restaurant by Ballston commons. The thing that made “Food Fight” so darn special was how banal it could be. You could get curries and a side for a few dollars. He knew the owner Ravi by name and gave him a furtive wink when they ordered. He felt like he belonged to me here. DC was a fun, yet difficult, place to live and he felt like he had it all figured out. The first time we live in a major city can be intimidating. He even brought along a cold bottle of sparkling wine he bought the prior weekend. She met him out front and she glowed with the splintered light of the slowly setting warm evening sunshine. Her smile had an extra radiance.

 

It was a casual evening where they sat on a bench under a newly blossoming cherry tree. He later walked down to the store, and they each had another bottle of cold beer. They were loose and easy, and the conversation flowed freely. They briefly discussed some big issues such as pets, travel, and family traditions. They were both in a flirtatious mood. There was no tension in the air, and he looked deeply into her eyes and broached a subject he had not rehearsed in his head. He had rehearsed many conversations, and this was not one of them.

 

He grabbed her tenderly by both hands, looked her in the eyes and asked, “Where do you see you and me twenty-five years from now?” He doesn’t know why he asked the question, and she didn’t show signs of being surprised or offended. She sat and thought for a while and seemed suddenly distracted by a newly risen crescent moon that sat heavily in the sky. A few birds sang in the trees nearby adding to the serenity of the night. There still was no tension in the air.

 

Breve I am going to tell you where I will see you in twenty-five years. I can be cynical about the institution of marriage. It is myth of sorts. Divorce runs rampant on my side of the family and who knows how long it will take me to get sick of this country of yours. Who knows how that works out? I love you Breve, which was the first time she used that word, but there are no guarantees in life.

 

She once again looked at the slowly sinking crescent moon as it was quietly dipping below a barely visible set of stratocumulus clouds. She hesitated for a second and removed nonexistent hair from her temple.

She then raised one eyebrow showing she was ready to speak.

 

“A quarter of a century is a long time from now. It is as long as we have been alive.”

 

Breve started to interrupt but she once again raised her eyebrow. He felt like he knew her well.

 

“I see both of us happy and successful. We will have a great run of play. I picture you sitting in a restaurant visiting our children wherever they decide to live. I assume that will be somewhere in Europe. Given my citizenship that will be in Germany. It is a wonderful place to get an education. “

 

“Let me get this straight. You see us having two children and I am visiting them without you. I assume you think we will not be together then.”

 

She smiled flirtatiously and raised her eyebrow once again.

 

“And we are going to have two children?”

 

“That’s my gut feel.”

 

He sat and looked back at where the moon once sat in the western sky. A gentle warm rain started to fall. He sat and stared, taking in the absolute beauty of this warm spring evening.

 

“That sounds good to me.”

 

I am Breve. I write this little reflection in a torn and tattered well-loved journal that I packed especially for this solo trip to Mainz. What a lovely peaceful city this can be. I will master the language someday. My kids are on the next train and will be here soon.