Treasures of the Past....

Alright, I don't know if it's called "Writer's Block" or a term I recently thought up as, "Blog Block", lol. For the past few days I've been extra busy working for school and when I come home, I start to work on the next days assignments and don't find much time to write. Plus, this is a special place for me, and I've decided that when I write, I don't want to write "just about anything". I want "it" to be special for me each time I write. Well, this morning while doing my daily chores around the house, I couldn't help but notice the "things" in the house. It's Phil's collection of African Art. They are from the "past". Not my past; but my partners. They are a memory each day for him, but they have managed to become a part of my life for the past 11, almost 12 years, because they are a part of his past. Over the years, the stories told about the pieces and how they were aquired have become "special for me" as well. Each piece has a "Special Meaning" as to what it's significance in African Life for the people and their Culture. When I look at the African Art collected from Niger, the Sahara and other areas of where his family spent their years, I can only relate to the stories told about their adventures. The movie Out of Africa is a beautiful story, buy my partner's family in Afirca, is a story even more beautiful.

His mom Denise died this year of Brain Cancer. It was a long and difficult time for all of us. Everytime that Denise would talk about Africa and its people, she would have tears of sadness and gladness in her eyes. Her love of the Sahara and its people were the stories that has built my curiosity and intrigue of the country of Niger where they spent their life. The African Art in our home is a constant reminder of a woman who accepted me into her family from the first day she met me. I was, in her words, "her American Son". The respect and love we had for each other will stay with me forever. Like each piece of African Art or Artifact we have, it's a constant reminder of a special place that leaves an impact on every person who has ever travelled to Africa. Every person that I ever spoke to that has travelled toAfrica has told me the same. "It's Magical"!

This is a year that "requires us", for a very special reason, to travel to Niger in Africa together for the first time. We plan to spend the holidays, including New Year's on or very close to the Sahara Desert which was Denise's Special Place on Earth. "It's Magical and cannot be explained unless you experience it first hand." For the first time in my life, I too, will experience that "Special Place on Earth."