It must have been close to 20 years ago when Sophie first came to our house. She was tiny and shy, and she soon retreated to the safest place she could find to hide: underneath my little grand piano. The details are a little fuzzy, but I remember I couldn't lure her out, so eventually I took a plate of berries - raspberries? strawberries? No clue - and a little dish of sugar to dip them in, and I joined her there, while her parents negotiated the purchase of a gold ring with Ivaan.
The next time I saw Sophie was 2008, and we'd sold the house and moved to an open concept condo. Sophie remembered the piano, and was soon under it again, but at age four she was a bit taller and more sure of herself. This time she brought just dad along for a visit, as her mum was busy at home with a new baby, a sister named Beatrice.
Some busy years followed. Their mum and I stayed in touch, as I moved around from place to place, and as the girls got older and developed interests of their own. Both girls were active in team sports, and weekends must have been a blur for their family, shuttling them to and from hockey tournaments and other competitive events. One place, however, was free from competition, and that was their home. Sophie was unendingly supportive of her younger sister, and Bea looked up to, and emulated Sophie.
There's a magic number of years that siblings should be separated in age, and I think it must be four. These girls liked and respected one another. They shared a quick and easy repartee. I remember an occasion where Bea and her mum visited Atelier Ivaan just before I closed the shop for good. Bea selected a handful of silver rings for herself while her mum and I chatted about my plans for the future.
I'd mentioned I wanted to take a real risk, and not do something safe or timid for the next phase of my life.
So when Sophie inquired, that evening, what I was planning to do with my newfound freedom, Bea replied, "She wants to have something to regret". Sophie quipped, "Well, then, why doesn't she just come here for dinner?" I still laugh about that.
Some of Sophie's stash of Ivaan rings accompanied her to McGill University a few years ago, and the three rings she wears daily went with her on an exchange to the University of Edinburgh last January, then accompanied her on her travels to Norway, Portugal, Spain and Greece. On returning home, she rediscovered Ivaan's more flamboyant rings and fell in love with them all over again.
That did it. I sent their mum a photo of the Traffic Stopper ring, which I still had in two adjacent sizes, and both Sophie and Bea loved it. Luckily, hockey gives you big fingers, so Bea got the larger ring and Dr. Sophie got the slightly smaller one. And they both lived happily ever after.
The End
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