When the Radio Answered My Heart

On Wednesday, as I was driving towards Sweden, something happened that I still can't quite explain.

I had been on the road for hours when my eyes briefly drifted to the clock on the dashboard.

20:35.

Without thinking, my mind traveled somewhere else. To another place. Another bubble where I normally would spend my time at that hour...

At that exact hour, I usually know where I am.

There, in a livestream, where music has become a safe place. A place where melodies have gently pulled tears from corners of my soul I had kept locked away for years. A place that has also given me something I wasn't sure I would ever find again...

Joy. Genuine, uncomplicated joy. And a place where I genuinely felt appreciated and important. That I mattered... 

And in that moment, I missed it.

I missed the laughter. The familiar faces. The conversations. His voice.

My wonderfully goofy Latino-German friend, whose voice still sounds almost too beautiful to be real.

As I kept driving through the wild Norwegian landscape, I found myself wishing I could be there instead. Just for a little while. In that little corner of the world where the rest of life grows quiet and the music carries you somewhere lighter.

Then it happened... 

As if the universe had decided to interrupt my thoughts...

The radio began playing that song.

The song... 

The very song that, a little more than three years ago, first led me to him. The song that opened the door to his livestreams, to his community, and to friendships I never expected to find.

Somehow, over the years, it has stopped being just a song.

It has become one of our songs.

For a brief moment, everything stood still... 

A chill ran through my entire body.

What were the odds?

I've never been very good at believing in coincidences.

So, for just a heartbeat, I wondered...

Was this a sign?

From life?

From fate?

From someone watching over me?

Or was it simply my heart trying to give meaning to a perfectly ordinary and maybe even slightly boring moment?

I don't know... 

A few days have passed now.

The moment still feels beautiful.

Still feels special. Strong. 

But I no longer dare to believe it meant anything at all.

Time is fragile... 

The wind keeps blowing.

Rivers never stop flowing, and no water ever stands still.

Life keeps moving forward.

And so will I.

But every now and then...

it leaves you with a moment that quietly settles in your heart... 

Not because you can explain it, but because you never really wanted to...

- Merry -