Yes, There is Love
Busy grocery store aisles, full of for-sale signs and people loading their carts.
I walk on by with my basket, looking for salsa, and pause behind a couple:
an old man in a wheelchair, a phone in his hand, as his partner pushes the chair forward.
‘Pasta sauce,’ he says, looking at the to-buy list on his phone.
‘Found it,’ she says, as she puts it in the cart she’s pushing with her other hand.
‘Onions are in the fresh foods aisle; need to go left’, he reminds her.
She starts coughing and stops. He turns around in his chair, holding her hand:
‘Are you ok? Do you want to buy some supplements?’
No reply. Still coughing, her hand on her chest, her eyes closed, her head bent down.
He pushes hard on the arms of his wheelchair, slowly stands up, and hugs her.
‘I love you. Let’s go home so you can rest.’
She brushes her arm over her face, wiping the tears, her coughs calming down.
‘It’s ok. Let’s finish buying the other items on your list. Onions?’, she asks.
‘Love first.’
‘I love onions.’
Laughter, as they hold each other’s hands,
him sitting in the chair again, her pushing it forward towards the foods aisle.
My soul is crying tears of joy, reminding itself:
‘There is love, there is faith, there is commitment, there is support.
The world may have push pins and barbed wire,
but there are down comforters and cherry blossoms too.
Let moments like these nourish your mind, so you can safely open your vulnerable heart,
and let it be nestled in the hands of true love, thanking the couple for that nourishing reminder.’
