July 19 in Desert Girl History

This day, July 19, several decades ago in Georgetown, Shamlan and I walked along Wisconsin Avenue and he stopped to buy me a bouquet of tiny pink roses and with a spray of purple desert flowers intertwined.   (This may have been where my love of pink roses began.... not sure.)

I had met him only days before - in front of my whole family which must have been a shock from a guy from Dubai. His cousin, Najeeb, introduced us.   My sister was visiting from Texas and we had all come back from a dinner at The Dancing Crab restaurant (which used to be next to a massage parlor called the Cat's Pajamas). Dinner at the Dancing Crab was kind of a family tradition as we all love Maryland blue crabs and it was a treat for Martha whenever she came to visit.  It is always hot in DC this time of year and it must have been pretty warm in the house (no air conditioning until years later).   Shamlan took it all in stride.  He smiled and met everyone comfortably and we promised to meet later in secret.... We were teenagers and my dad wouldn't have approved (he later busted me sneaking back into the house.  An adventure WELL worth the punishment).  Shamlan had to go through the approvals process before I could leave the house for a few hours with him.

Anyways, I have always remembered the date and I still have pieces of the bouquet, collected and carefully preserved in my trunk that has been with me from place to place since those teenage days.  Most of the color has faded, but not all.  (Roses never fade....)

I once heard a family member give an interview after a plane crash.  She said that they had recovered her loved one's suitcase from the crash and it made her ponder how something material and meaningless lived on while someone of such value had perished.  I think of that quote when I see the flowers in my trunk.

I also remember another quote from someone who said that as long as there are still people to remember you,  you are never really gone.  That's true.  I hear him sometimes when someone laughs and I see his look every once in a while through the eyes of another person.  He's never really very far away.

I can't believe how many years have passed and so quickly.