Over Afternoon Tea

Tea is not only a drink but a ritual over which people have been relaxing, talking, and catching up on each other's lives for centuries. This blog is intended to serve as a virtual cup of tea, helping me keep in touch with friends and family in my physical absence.

The Back of His Head

Sitting in the backseat of the car, I glanced at the seat in front of me and was startled by a wave of familiarity. The shape of the head in front of me was etched on my memory in every detail, from the silhouette to the slight angle at which the hairs emerged from the scalp. The back of his head was comforting, loving, prayerful. It evoked memories of Sunday mornings when I wished all of time would stop and let me stand here in Church forever, a time when I was still ignorant of Church politic-ing, hadn't heard the stories of bad priests who didn't care, had only seen this patient, prayerful man loving his people into shape. I could almost hear his beloved voice coming in after the last hymn, slightly off-key, warm and fervent, "Again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord..."
"You know," I said suddenly, "I think I've spent as much time looking at the back of your head as the front of it."
He laughed uncertainly, not getting it but amused at the randomness of the remark.
"In services, you know?" I explained. "Most of the time you're facing the front of the Church, with your back to us, so we've spent all this time staring at the back of your head." He laughed then, and got it, and thought it was funny.
I want a picture of the back of his head.