Nicola Vincent-Abnett

Nicola Vincent-Abnett
"Savant" for Solaris, Wild's End, Further Associates of Sherlock Holms, more Wild's End

Saturday 11 August 2012

The Sunny Side


Some of you might have noticed that I’ve been feeling a little sad and sorry for myself recently. I make no apology for it... It’s true. I’m not proud of it, but there is an ebb and flow to life, and no one feels good all of the time. I’m tempted to think that creative types are more susceptible to the vagaries of mood and temperament than other people, but that might be investing them with the sort of powers that excuse less attractive traits like melancholia and bloody-mindedness, that some of us choose not to admit to... not directly at least.

I have been in a little slough of despond, which is precisely why I want to talk to you all about Vanessa May. In fact, I want to introduce you all to Vanessa May.

No... Not that Vanessa May! I know that you know who she is. I know that you know the young, gorgeous, talented violin player. I know that you have seen and heard and admired her. I know that some of you have fallen in love with her musicianship and some of you have fallen a little in love with her youth and beauty, and I know that one or two of you have been seduced by a combination of her youth and beauty and her virtuoso technique.

I’m not talking about her, though. I’m talking about my brother’s girlfriend.

My brother, the one I mentioned in Wednesday’s blog, my younger, wonderful sibling, has been dating a woman for six years; I say he’s been dating her, but they’re really a bona fide partnership, and, if it weren’t for other considerations, they’d be happily ensconced together for better or worse...

Anyway, let’s not jump the gun or make their decisions prematurely or, heaven forfend, on their behalf. My brother’s girlfriend is called Vanessa May and, regardless of her famous name, she is worth her weight in gold.

It has never been my pleasure to know such an open, willing, funny, amenable woman. She has no agenda. She has no side. She is endlessly accepting and giving, and she does not have a bitter or twisted bone in her body. I marvel at how sunny this woman is. She never ceases to smile or see the silver lining. I wish I had half of her positivity.

They say that you get the face you deserve, and I think it’s true. Vanessa beams a thousand kilowatt smile of sparkling eyes and blushing cheeks. I do not think I have ever seen this woman shed a tear that has not been associated with laughter. She has no frown marks and no furrows. Every line Vanessa has earned, and they are by no means many, she has earned with glee.

I salute her. I’m very happy that she is in my life and my brother’s life, and I wish that I could be a little more like her.

I hope to goodness that we all know somebody like Vanessa, and if you do know someone like her, I hope that you will join me in celebrating the presence in your life of someone... anyone... with such a sunny, positive disposition. People like Vanessa make all of our lives better and happier; they lighten our loads, and I hope beyond all things that there is some equivalent in their lives that does the same for them, because God knows they have earned it, and they deserve to have any burdens they might be carrying lifted.

1 comment:

  1. I hear you (re the ebb and flow, the sadness)...and I'm glad you have a Vanessa. xxx

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