It's Always Been There

This morning, as the coffee perked merrily on the stove, and as I rinsed the luscious local strawberries for my breakfast, I heard a suite of music that stirred an ancient memory. It was the orchestral suite from Der Rosenkavalier, an opera I saw long, long ago with my then brand new husband. I knew nothing about the story, except that it is about a love triangle between the Marschallin, an older woman of allure and prestige, Octavian, a young man, and Sophie, a young woman. As in the tradition of much opera, the part of the young man is sung by a woman. When I heart it, the trio consisted of Kiri Te Kanawa as the Marschallin, Frederica Von Stade as Octavian, and a wonderful singer whose name I forget as Sophie.

The opera is long, and I know I struggled to follow it, neither speaking German nor fully understanding the plot. But near the end of the opera, the three women sing a trio, and I remember the thrill of the music, the beauty of their voices, sending electricity through my body. And I know that part of the thrill was the fact that, despite the characters being of opposite sexes, the passionate words of love were being sung by women, to women. Ultimately the trio resolves into the sweetest imaginable duet betwen Sophie and Octavian, who, of course, end up together. They sing,

Octavian:

I feel you and only you
and that we are together!
All else passes like a dream
before my senses

Sophie:

It is a dream, it cannot be real
that we two are together,
together for all time
and all eternity

Hearing this stunning music this morning brought tears of memory and gratitude to my eyes... It was always there, this dream of singing a love song to another woman. It is like a dream, to finally be resolved into the person you were meant to be, and to the relationship you were meant to have. Thank you, God.