From the Imagination of Dr. Nicki: Real Life - Stories I Never Knew... Part 1

I hope you will enjoy my new blog feature, "From the Imagination of Dr. Nicki"… It will spotlight original fiction by me. These stories never happened… They are just original fiction pieces from my imagination! For the next two weeks, starting today, I will be presenting "Stories I Never Knew...", a 12-part fictional blog story. I hope you enjoy it!

From the Imagination of Dr. Nicki: Real Life - Stories I Never Knew... Part 1

We stood silent in the tall, shadowed space. Spears of speckled light created vague moments of sight. My soft, tiny hand cuddled happily in Grandfathers huge paw. I snuck my cheek against the rough, black coat that fell a million miles from his grand shoulders.

My favorite thing was to snuggle in his lap, tickling the wiry, long beard that laughed at any effort to conformity. He always smelled like dust. And incense.

But there would be no snuggling today. Today was prayer day. As we stood together now we could hear the moaning prayers of the men. Grandfather would join them while I stayed cozy in a dark corner, like a sneaky overhearing child upon the stairs.

Grandfather would explain to me about the importance of faith. About how, in order to go through the world as a right and righteous person we must find our way back to the creator…back to God. I would always listen, trying to look as “faithful” as I could – whatever that was. But to tell you the truth, I’d already found God. And his name was Grandfather.  

Many years later, when Grandfather had returned to the dust he’d always most resembled, I’d visit the dark synagogue over and over – trying to recapture my Grandfather’s deep truth. I’d listen to the new men and their old prayers. I’d bend my knees and bow my head with hope and possibility. But really all I could remember was how stunningly, how profoundly, how eternally - I loved that man. Well, maybe that’s what real faith is anyway. Love of something beyond us that takes us into who we are…that offers to us the best, mirrored moments of ourselves. Maybe God means to weave into our lives through these moments, like soft ribbon weaving through coarse hair. Then our job is just to notice He’s there. Not to do, or be, or find anything in particular…just to notice.     

Still, I miss my Grandfather everyday.