Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Lesson in love found at the cafeteria

Once a week I take my grandmother to dialysis, and then four hours later, I pick her up. As a treat for her going through such an ordeal and because she’s often too weak to cook, we have a weekly stand-in date at the K&W Cafeteria.

If you’ve ever gone to the K&W and the median age of the clientele is 25 years older than you, then you’re obviously at the K&W way too early in the afternoon.

So Tuesday’s dinner date was a lesson in love – geriatric style.

In the middle of digesting my watermelon, I saw a couple at a nearby table. She was dressed in a purple cardigan with red roses, he in khaki shorts and black socks.

Something caught my eye. It wasn’t the pyramid of coffee creamers stacked five deep or the matching pill organizers – in yellow no less. What caught me off guard was this loving couple, enjoying a 4 o’clock meal while holding hands under the table.

The image of their wrinkly hands gripped together ever so slightly while the world passed them by was so pure and so sweet.

Simple lesson for the day: Love endures, and it shows in the smallest of gestures.

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