I've called my blog Gazing-at-the Stars because she lists stargazing as one of the hobbies that she would like to try. By that she means lying on the trampoline in the garden and gazing up at the sky. She is not about to become a disciple of Galileo. The closest she will get to that is her love of Queen, the rock band (reference to lyric from Bohemian Rhapsody!).
As it happens, we met through a star: (Club) Sirius, a dating agency. No-one introduced us. I sought her out - I knew that she must have been out there somewhere. And we found one another. We were initially drawn together by a mutual love for the Alfa Romeo brand. Given that I was "back in the market" at the time (following my first failed marriage), I was determined that my new partner would be one who, amongst her other qualities, had a passion for cars! She appeared to pass this test with flying colours - a match made in heaven, or so it seemed.
However, fans of Alfa Romeo are independent spirits, they do not follow the herd mentality. They are not "sensible". They are drawn by beauty, passion, "character", "feeling" - they do not merely view a car as something to take them from A to B. They do not always use their brain, too often they let their heart (and ears!) do the leading. Were we opposites? Were we alike? Like the opposite poles of two magnets we were drawn together. Now like the similar poles, we are being forced apart and can no longer find how to meet, how to connect. How do 8 years of love "stuck" together lead to this? It has certainly been no A to B.
As she gazes up from the trampoline, she may well spot another star out there in the heavens, through the dark clouds. Some too far to reach or that only sparkle bright for a while, then fizzle out. Others fall out of the sky.
But there will always be one star looking out for her when the rest of the sky is clear: the Pole Star. Steady, dependable, maybe too predictable and "unexciting", but always there.
The trouble is, she's never had any sense of direction. Getting lost is a skill that she is quite a master of. Showing her a map or giving her helpful directions is like waving a red rag to a bull (she is Taurian by the way). She prefers to be driven by her "gut feel", blind as a bat.
