I saw an 88 year old guy in my office today. His wife ( let's call her Ann) always accompanied him. I used to see him and then Ann also got to be my patient. Ann was diagnosed with devastating Parkinson's disease and recently passed away under hospice care.
Ann in her old age was beautiful. Can't imagine how great she looked in her younger years. Vibrant and funny. Always graceful. It was sad to see her wither away.
After seeing Ann's husband I decided to talk to him about Ann. He had been sad and quiet. Then he perked up and started talking. He is from the midwest. At age 18, he took a train and travelled to wherever the news of a job took him. He ended up in NJ . He ran into Ann along with a group of her friends.
First he asked Ann for a date. She said " I have to look at my appointments." He ventured " you see Ann loved to play tennis and if you dated her, you had to play tennis with her and she was missing her appointment book".
That date never happened. Next time they crossed paths Ann asked him for a date. He already had a date. He said to her " I never cancel dates." He went on " she had her claws in me and the more I looked into her deep blue eyes, more I got hooked."
They had a date and later got married.
"You see the problem with Ann was that no one ever told her how good she was. She was a clerk in this company when we got married. Then we planned. I gave 3 choices, stay home or go to school or get divorced." He laughed joyously through the story. Ann chose school. She ended with a doctorate in Psychology. "I worked hard and for 30 years I supported her, then for the next 35 she supported me. We had many state and federal contracts. She ended up on the board of many institutions."
"We never fought after midnight. Whatever it was we would never carry it over to the next day."
He talked on and I felt like I was getting life advice from a grandparent. He went on for 30 mins. I was late for my other work but it was worth it. He departed happy. Ann had been a blessing in both our lives even in her absence.
I'm a young guy, with hardly any memories from the 90s(I was just a toddler then). But, from the tales I heard including this, I'm guessing it was more about embracing simple things in life. I wonder how many of us belonging to the present generation will have such beautiful stories to share in our future. Thanks for sharing this simple, yet heartfelt experience @nedspeaks :-)
I thought for a long time on this one. I wanted to find a way to say that the world is just as beautiful and love carries the same meaning. I could not find any reasons to justify that.
@xmachina, in the current social structure and its attributes, we live our lives differently but that longing to be loved in every heart remains. When it is time for you to tell your stories, I hope you have many good ones to choose from
Thank you so much for this lovely post, wish I could have been there for his story. I would guess that you made his day :-)
It moved me then and will affect my for a long long time.Thankyou so much for your great comment .
Sometimes, people just need to listen, you listened. You were late, but I bet that did not matter one damn bit to you.
If we have two ears to hear, why do we miss most of the story then?
Lol. Thanks for reading this. He story moved me.
This is so beautiful I work with the elderly and love hearing their life stories you can learn so much. Thank God for the blessing these people gave to you. Thanks for sharing
I am so glad you liked it.
Aww thanks for sharing this one with me. What a beautiful moment. I could see his face light up when he started talking about Ann. I'm going to be that old man unless I die before my wife does, and I hope I have people in my life willing to give the moment of genuine human interaction and spark I need to remember the happy times. Thanks for connecting with him and with me.
Carl you are a good man. I have been married 17 years now. It's been a blessing. Looks like you and I got lucky.
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Great story. I second the advice about settling up before you go to sleep. #resteembotsentme
Thanks moe. It was a fantastic 30 mins of my life.
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