Byzantium

The weeks passed, more and more she wrote. In this different life she made every effort to hold on. Visits to Brussells, Portsmouth, Oxford, Lincolnshire - spending time with close friends. She continued to work on projects connected with peace and justice issues, but had to reduce this considerably due to the need to work at the pub restaurant. Restricting her hours there to Fridays-Sundays ensured she retained the flexibility to see him whenever it was possible, from Monday to Thursday. Her regular visits to those in need in her village continued, as did the time spent staying with her mother. Coppelia even began painting again. Something she hadn't done for three or four years - she painted two pictures, to help illustrate this story. Late in February she wrote him a letter, in which she sought to express clearly what he meant to her, and why he should not worry so about letting her down, about feeling so guilty for not being able to engage in their relationship more fully. This meant a lot to him, he read it over and over and told her how much it had helped to reassure him. And so the days passed. Week by week, phone call by phone call.
In early March they spent another lovely long day in London, this time to visit the Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy. Always such days would somehow deepen and strengthen whatever it was that drew them together. Coppelia thanked God for the love between them.

'A day like this'...