Sunday, 02 December 2018 13:13

The Sky Within

Written by  Priscilla K. Garatti

~This was the skin that protected you from the world--this loving of another person you shared your life with.--Elizabeth Strout (From Anything Is Possible)

I opened the app on my phone to see a photo I looked at for a time.  I observed my husband gently spooning warm broth to his mother who lay in a hospital bed.  Giovanni's strong hand gripping the spoon stood in stark contrast with his mother's vulnerable posture.  I noted the silver bracelet he wears around his right wrist, his only adornment, like a symbol of royalty. 

Giovanni's mother fell.  She needed bed rest.  His first response was to go to her.  He had just returned from a trip to his homeland in Italy.  Yet he decided to go back immediately.  This response to serve courses through his DNA.  I liken this trait to a vast blue sky that lives within him, that inhabits him and drives him to serve others.  When I looked at the picture, I felt the brilliance of that sky well up within me too.

I have lost count of the number of times my husband serves me.  Frequently, I am witness to a broom or a spatula, a mop, pliers or a rake in his hands as he goes about tasks in our home and on our property.  He concocts nutritous meals that appear like clockwork on our table.  He arranges flowers from his garden that bring sweet fragrance and beauty to our living areas.  He saves us countless dollars with his consistent frugality at the grocery store.  I am in awe of this love language  I am not fluent.  

I gaze at the photo and give thanks for my husband, this person I share life with, this man with that expansive sky within.

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What Readers Are Saying

In Missing God Priscilla takes a brave and unflinching look at grief and the myriad ways in which it isolates one person from another. The characters are full-bodied and the writing is mesmerizing. Best of all, there is ample room for hope to break through. This is a must read.

Beth Webb-Hart (author of Grace At Lowtide)

winner"On A Clear Blue Day" won an "Enduring Light" Bronze medal in the 2017 Illumination Book Awards.

winnerAn excerpt from Missing God won as an Honorable Mention Finalist in Glimmertrain’s short story “Family Matters” contest in April 2010.