Today is my husband’s and my 2nd wedding anniversary. So far, it has been the best one yet. We have had a the most wonderful day together. God gave us an extra special gift wrapped in the bodies of an 80+ year old couple.
We decided to go on a lunch date together to make the day extra special and give ourselves more time with each other. We were sharing sweet memories with each other when all of the sudden my eyes fell on this poor old lady. I’m pretty sure that I was the only person in the restaurant who could see her. She had swung her left foot up to her right knee and was trying so very hard to just connect her Velcro shoe strap to the side of her shoe. Her face was in utter anguish. I’ve never seen such a painful face for the simple act of buckling a shoe. Her husband was completely helpless and just looked at her with a similar anguish on his face. I told David, “I’ve got to go help this lady. She needs my help.”
So, I ran over there and said, “Mam, let me help you fix your shoe.” She mumbled some incoherent words, but seemed appreciative. Her husband gratefully mumbled, “Thank You.” I said, “You’re very welcome,” and returned to our booth.
He kept looking at me and as they were leaving came over to our table to thank me again. He said, “You wouldn’t know it, but she was the former Miss Tennessee and she was so beautiful.” He told us that she had Parkinson’s disease and she had moments when she just wasn’t there like when she asked him what his other wife’s name was. Then, she had her good moments, like when she told him that she had written him a letter. He said when she told him that, he thought, “Oh, great, it’s probably a ‘Dear John’ letter.” Yet, when his eyes gazed upon the words she penned, he read the most beautiful letter he had ever been given.
With that, he shuffled his feeble feet out to his car to come pick up his bride. I pray that my sweet husband and I will always be in love like that. I know we will. I think God was just giving us a little glimpse of what it’s like to grow old together with the one we love. Thanks, Lord, for that anniversary gift. It was the best.