#43

Number 43 on my list of 46 things to do before I die: Kiss someone through a kissing gate.

I remember years ago I was in the city of Bath, England. I went for a walk and ended up in this glorious field that overlooked the whole countryside- there were little trails through the long grass and wildflowers sprinkled all over the hill. I sat there in the grass watching the sun go down, the sky streaked with pink and orange. After a while a young man walked by and sat down, starting to talk to me. He was a writer and was travelling from out of town and liked the breathing space of these quiet places. We talked for a long time and then got up to go, winding our way to the edge of the field which was fenced in with one lone gate.
It was a kissing gate- a gate meant to prevent cyclists and horses from getting through- one end of the fence is forked and the other end fits into it with a swinging gate that necessitates two people being within kissing distance in order to get through at the same time.
The man started to laugh as we were going through and I asked what it was. He had this funny look and he said, "Well, I just find it kind of strange that I am going through a kissing gate with a pretty girl in the middle of a beautiful field." He smiled at me and I smiled back, and then we said goodbye and I walked back to where I was staying and I never saw him again. I never even knew his name, but I'm sure somewhere in this world is a writer who will remember that funny evening when he went through a kissing gate with a very naive 18-year-old Canadian girl.
Moments like that recall a warm sense of nostalgia. I suppose a million and one things in my life could have happened that didn't (sometimes quite fortuitiously)- but the things that did happen have served to make me into the person I am now.
Looking back in perspective I can be grateful that God hasn't answered 90% of my prayers, but at the time it always seems devastating. The lesson learned is to look at the big picture and see beyond the practicalities of today. Faith! That's what it is.