The Spa Robe

 Earlier this week, I was out of town for a couple of days with the children, and treated myself to deep tissue massage.  If you have been following my blog, you know how Michael would always treat me to a massage wherever we would go.  It is, and will be, impossible to get a massage without some memory of a place in time where he carefully selected a location and scheduled a massage for me.  I checked into the spa and they handed me my robe and slippers.  Without much thought, I went into the dressing area to undress and put on the robe.  As soon as I felt the robe on my body, my mind went to a resort in the Bahamas where we went with our best friends, Nanette and Peter, for a week vacation to celebrate our 15^th wedding anniversaries.  We scheduled a massage for each one of us, separately, but during the same hour.  The robe I had just put on my body felt, and looked, just like the ones were wore in that spa….. a thin, soft terry cloth on the inside and a khaki soft cotton on the outside that fell onto your body with ease and warmth. They were all huge and long.  They swallowed Nanette and me up with all of the fabric, but fit Michael just right because of his height and broad chest and shoulders.  He looked so relaxed and happy.  He was even a little giddy because it was so out of character for him to do something like that.  I could still picture him in his robe, waiting in the “quiet area” for his masseuse to come get him.  After we all emerged in a half drunken state of relaxation from our various rooms, we put on our swim suits and went outside to get an “umbrella drink”,  then went to sit in one of the beautiful hot tubs which had a small waterfall coming out of the wall into to the hot tub.  I could picture the guys taking turns sitting under the waterfall.  I remembered the laughter, the friendship, and the beautiful state of peace and rest that we were all enjoying at that moment.  All of this came to my memory because of a robe.

Then my mind went to another memory of a spa with the same type of robe….  Michael only went to a spa twice.  Both times they were on a trip with the same, dear friends.  Michael planned a surprise weekend for my 40^th birthday….. I won’t say how long ago that was.   He had lined up childcare for the weekend and told me we were going away for the weekend and to pack my bags.  We left the house and drove to the airport.  My thoughts were that we were about to hop on a plane to fly somewhere.  Instead, he pulled up to the curb, and standing there with huge smiles, were Nanette and Peter, who had just flown into town to spend the weekend celebrating with us.  After laughter and hugs, we drove to Greenwood, Mississippi to stay at the Alluvian Hotel, take a French dinner party cooking class together at the Viking Cooking School, and get a couples’ massage at their wonderful spa.  When we arrived in our rooms, there was champagne on ice and chocolate covered strawberries for the four of us to toast a weekend to friendship, marriage, and my birthday.  Next came the spa treatment….  Our couples’ massage was scheduled first, with theirs immediately following.   We slipped on our robes, just like the one I was wearing while all of these memories were playing through my mind like a lovely movie, and were escorted to a peaceful waiting room for two with a platter of fruit and cheese and two more glasses of champagne.  After choosing the music that would play in the room during the massage, I had one of the most relaxing massage experiences ever.  It was no different than a regular massage, but we were on tables that were right next to one another, each with our own masseuse.  It was more relaxing just being in the same room with him, knowing that he was experiencing the same peacefulness that I was experiencing.  He spoiled me that weekend with one generous act and gift after another.  He planned, prepared, and included all of my favorite things….. from gifts, to food, to locations, to friends.  He made the weekend all about me and he relished in it.  A smile stayed constant on his sweet face, knowing that he had successfully pampered and spoiled me.

The robe made me feel comforted, loved, and pampered by him again. I had only ever worn a robe like that because he had made it happen.  This time, I made it happen and I was flooded with thankful memories that I had because of his love for me.  I sat in the hot tub after my massage and went through more memories of our conversations  and laughter in the hot tub with Nanette and Peter.  I was a little lonely and sober in the moment, not having anyone with whom to share it.  I did enjoy the solitude and time of retrospection.  I felt like I was the only person in the place, deep in my thoughts and in another place and time.  I dried off and wrapped myself back up into the cozy robe. My time was over but the feelings those memories stirred up inside of me, tarried on like a foggy haze surrounding my whole body as I got dressed to return to the real world outside the doors of the spa.