the kissing will matter a lot more
the days i am not crushing keys on my laptop, i work part time for a local eye doctor. in addition to providing exams and offering a dope selection of frames, the office also repairs broken eyeglasses. yesterday was a weird day. it was dark, rainy, and my mister and i had a yucky argument before i left for the day. with a pending writing deadline looming over my head, my stomach was in knots and my anxiety through the roof.
a few hours into the day, a chic older woman walked into the shop with a pair of broken glasses in hand. she looked put together, but empty and sad. she explained she broke her eyeglasses when she fell asleep at the dinner table and explained she can barely stay awake lately. i let her know we would do whatever we could to fix her glasses, but i wanted to be sure she was ok too. she replied with a clear “no.”
the woman told me she missed her husband, who after 56 years of marriage passed away two weeks ago. she said he was the most brilliant man she ever met. she told me of the work they did together towards cancer research. of the meals they cooked. of the child they raised. she told me she was devastatingly lonely.
when she asked me if i had a husband of my own, i explained i would in june and started to cry. i told her of the silly argument anthony and i had that morning and felt like a fool.
this beautiful, kind woman with broken glasses and a destroyed heart assured me there would be plenty of disagreements in my marriage. told me she could see how much i loved my fiance by the way i spoke of him. told me passion and fire are healthy and important for keeping things interesting. but she also warned me against going to sleep angry. told me with a wink how the real fun lies in making up. she urged me to go home and hug my man a little tighter. snuggle a little closer when we sleep and try to let the small stuff go.
fifty six years later the arguments will matter very little and the kissing will matter a lot more.
we spoke for over a half an hour. alternating between tears and laughter. she told me it had been beautiful talking to me. that i saved her day. i don’t think this angel of a woman will ever know how much she actually saved me. or how her advice about marriage will continually ring in my head as i begin my own journey towards becoming a wife.
angels come in all forms. we are given messages of hope and perseverance, not just in scripture, but in human connections. conversations with older couples, young children, and strangers we meet while traveling… those words become gospel.
heartfelt conversations are gifts we can give ourselves and each other.
that my friends is why we are here. it may be the only reason we are here.
at some point this weekend when the moment feels right, put your phone down, pick your head up, and have a real and true conversation. if a woman at the coffee shop looks like she could really use a friend, she probably could. if an elderly man is sitting alone at lunch, ask if you can join him. you never know who needs an angel. it may just be you.
