Small Imperfection, And Quiet Regrets

There was a New Zealand entertainer named Jack, whose manager had organized a short tour from Auckland to Wellington, performing with small local bands at theatres, lively pubs, and a couple of upmarket outdoor events at wineries.

Jack was a stand-up comedian with a guitar who could also play serious music and had a suitcase full of songs, jokes, and yarns about small-town life, stubborn dogs, and the awkwardness of everyday life. He wasn't that famous, but he was your mate down the road at the pub who just so happened to be on telly last week in a talent show.

There are a few things most people don't realise about comedians. They have two personalities. One is a young, mischievous person, even though they might be forty-something, and everyone remembers this bit. The second side of their personality that people don't see is that most comedians are very wise and intelligent people who are always looking for funny and unusual stories to tell or interesting people they have met.

While Jack was away, His wife Sarah and her sister Emily were talking at the kitchen table over coffee. Sarah was complaining about a few little annoying habits he had. Emily tried to explain that she thought he was a wonderful man, and most couples have to work on their marriages to sort out differences.

Emily was shocked to see Sarah's face turn slightly red and stare at her. This was a volcano that had been bubbling away for a while, and then the volcano exploded.

Sarah snapped, "Well, if you think he is so wonderful, you have him!"

Before Emily had a chance to assess what had just happened, Sarah turned into a sergeant major in a bad mood and ordered Emily to give her a hand to pack up Jack's stuff and load it into Emily's car. Emily was shaking and still totally confused. After a slow drive home. Emily unloaded Jack's stuff and neatly placed them around the house to try to make it look like Jack always lived there.

Jack came home tired but full of exciting stories. He walked through the front door and was hit with an empty house. On the table was a note, "You don't live here anymore, you live with my sister. Jack felt like he'd just been run over by a bus. He wandered around each empty room, trying to figure out what had happened. He visualised where each bit of furniture had been, where pictures had hung on the wall. He reflected on the twenty-plus years that they were married, and all he kept picturing was the happy times they had, but he knew something had not been right for a long time, and all this time, he didn't see it.

He looked where the refrigerator used to be and remembered how Sarah had complained that she found one of his guitar picks in the fridge, and he laughed and made jokes about it, and thought of writing a song about it. Sarah didn't see the funny side of that one, and he didn't see that she was not happy.

He quietly walked around in the dark to each room, trying to find any other imperfections, and he found a few that were so small. They never had any serious arguments, and thought they had a happy marriage, and suddenly, boom, it was over. He quietly shut the front door, knowing that he was shutting the door to this part of his life. He knew he was opening up a new door in life, but was very hesitant as to what might be behind the door.

Jack nervously drove slowly over to Emily's house, and had so many things flying around in his head, which made it hard to concentrate on driving, and why he was driving a bit slower. He arrived nervous and shaking a little bit, but he quickly felt the warmth of Emily as she came out to greet him, and her little daughter ran out with a crayon-drawn picture of three stick figures, saying, "We're family now."

Jack and Emily's relationship blossomed into something truly beautiful, and Jack lovingly raised Lily as his own, but always said they were more, best of mates, than father and daughter.

Emily tried to tell Jack that perhaps it was "Karma," and he might have been with the wrong person, but he couldn't see it. Love can be blind. While Jack knew he was lucky in landing on his feet. He had a lot of healing and soul searching to do. Having a beautiful, loving relationship helped so much in dealing with the feelings of guilt at what had happened, but his heart was still yearning for his first wife, Sarah.

Jack had a part-time job in cabinetmaking and helped out at Emily's florist shop part-time. The customers enjoyed meeting a celebrity in the shop. But Jack toned down the jokes, acting like a big kid, listened to people, and quietly dropped hints on how they could solve their problems. This was a talent that no one knew he had. Everyone thought he was just a big kid and a talented musician.

Jack got his manager to organise very short tours, during school holidays, so the whole family could see the beauty of New Zealand and the wonderful, and sometimes unusual, people along the way. If you listen to his songs closely enough, you could hear the laughter, the regret, the love, the butter left on the kitchen bench, quietly melting in the sun, or the guitar pick found in the fridge.

Jack knew Lily's real father and said to him a few times that he was always welcome to come and visit Lily, but her father explained that it was a bit awkward to do that and face his ex-wife, Emily. So, Jack posted pictures of Lily growing up, drawings and paintings Lily had done, and a few school reports.

Twenty years later, Lily attended a Maori Tangi, a traditional Maori funeral. Lily's father recognized her and plucked up the courage to introduce himself to her. They started spending quality time together and getting to know each other.

Lily finally found out why her parents had separated, which no one, including her mother, would talk about. Her parents descended from two different tribes called an iwi, which didn't get on well because of arguments over a small bit of land that had been going on since what people called "the beginning of time." The two families, called "whanau," didn't like the idea of these two getting together. While they weren't banned from family get-togethers, they were always treated as outsiders.