3 July 2022: Jule, look! An eagle!

"3rd July 2022. Around ten in the morning, I woke up. As I got up to prepare tea for Jule, she rolled over to my side of the bed. I gave her a kiss on the cheek as she continued to doze. Mom was already on the early shift. In the kitchen, I made Jule's favorite tea, black East Frisian tea, with exactly one teaspoon of sugar. For myself, I brewed a filter coffee with oat milk.

'Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, sunshine,' I sang cheerfully as I went into my room to wake up Jule.

'Yawn. Good morning, my love,' Jule yawned and stretched.

'Your delicious tea is ready,' I said and gave her a kiss on the mouth.

'Okay! I'm coming,' Jule replied and stretched once more.

Sitting on the balcony at a small table, we had breakfast under an awning that protected us from the glaring sun, enjoying the view of the wheat field right off the balcony. The tits living by the house flew around us and sang, as if they were putting on a show for us.

'Do you still keep in touch with Mara?'

'No, we don't have any contact anymore. We decided it's better not to jeopardize my relationship with you. Besides, she met someone else.'

'Do you still have feelings for her?'

I looked down at the bread roll I had just finished spreading and hesitated for a moment.

'No, I don't have feelings for her anymore. It wasn't love. We were just, as Mara would say, hormone-driven.'

Jule laughed. There was a brief silence. She looked into my eyes, this time not gazing through me into infinity. I noticed a slight joy in her face.

'Oh Jule, look! An eagle!' I joked, getting up from the chair and pointing a finger at a huge bird above the field.

'What a goofball. That's a buzzard!' laughed the bird expert, who knew everything about birds from her voluntary ecological year.

'Sashi, shall we go for a walk?'

'Sure!' I replied, and we quickly cleared away the cups and plates.

We strolled along a dirt path surrounded by golden wheat and radiant sunflowers.

'Oh no... we have to pass under the high-voltage lines,' Jule noticed as she saw the cables hanging over the path.

Jule's pace quickened as we approached the lines. I adjusted my pace and laughed.

'Ah, Jule, your hair!' I teased her as we stopped under the lines.

She touched her hair.

'That's not true at all, you joker.'

I grinned and gave her a loving kiss on the cheek as we walked.

After the walk, we played an ancient version of my favorite board game, Activity, with words that are no longer used today. Time flew by.

In the evening, we had intimate, loving sex for the first time in a long while.

After a quick shower, Jule and I went to the living room. She sat on the sofa, and I sat down on the carpet next to her.

'Jule, do you still want to move in with me?' I asked cautiously.

'Yes, but I'm not ready for it right now. I'm still attached to Shinshu. And Sashi, please, don't send me any more apartment listings for now. I need to sort out my feelings first,' she explained somewhat annoyed.

Feeling a bit sad, I lowered my gaze. Jule sat down next to me on the carpet, crossing her legs. I slowly let my head sink in her direction, closing my eyes as I did so.

'Dead,' Jule commented on my fall onto her legs. That was always our joke when someone fell dead tired onto the bed and was good for nothing.

Jule gently ran her fingers through my hair, and a contented grin spread across my face. When I opened my eyes again, I looked up at Jule. I saw this wonderful person, with whom I had shared so many ups and downs. In that moment, I was incredibly grateful to have such a wonderful person by my side. I closed my eyes again and remembered the beautiful and meaningful moments that bound us together. Jule was a woman who never let you down. She always reached out to me in dark and cold moments, offering me light and warmth. She was a woman with whom I could be a hundred percent myself – even when I was on the toilet.