“Let love guide your life." ~ Colossians
3:14
As far as I’m concerned, few
things are as adorable as sweet old couples. How many times have you cracked a smile at a
pair of cute old-timers holding hands in public? If you’re like me, seeing love endure the test
of time is not only heart-warming, it’s inspirational.
It makes me want to work that much harder on my own relationship
so that my other half and I can one day rock matching canes too! Old couples in love remind us that anything’s
possible if you try hard enough.
Three times a week, my favorite octogenarians came to the
pharmacy where I work to pick up their medications. We all knew them by name.
Larry usually initiated our
conversations and handled the transactions.
There was a gentle kindness in his smile. He struck me as a person who lived how he
believed others should, as if he were sunshine that radiated from only the best
aspects of those he met, their flaws invisible to him.
Betty always seemed as happy as a clam at high tide. She stood close by his side, paying careful
attention to the things he said, but rarely entered the exchange herself. Just being near him seemed to provide a
serenity she couldn’t know without him near.
Never a day passed when they weren't together. That’s why is seemed odd last week when Larry
walked up to the counter by himself.
"How are you doing today, Larry?" I asked.
He told me he couldn’t be better, which was his usual
reply. I didn’t give it a second
thought.
“I have 6 medications ready: 3 for you and 3 for Betty.”
He went sadly quiet … before saying, "My wife passed
last night.” Then through muffled tears:
“I'm here to return the ones she wasn’t able to use."
My heart broke a little!
“I’m so sorry,” I muttered.
“Thank you,” he replied humbly. “It was hard waking up to an empty side of the
bed. She was my wife and best friend. Ours’s wasn’t a matter of counting the years,
but making all our years count."
“I almost hate to admit, but I prayed to God that I’d live one
day more than my wife. You see Betty’s
had dementia for over 20 years. Nothing
frightened me more than the thought of Betty confined to a nursing home alone.”
Larry never visited the pharmacy again. He passed in his sleep 4 days later … just as
he’d hoped; his many prayers answered.
Experts have suggested profound grief as one reason for
close-coupled deaths among spouses. I
want to believe that in their case, Larry’s and Betty’s souls were so closely
intertwined that they couldn’t be separated by death - a testament to the power
of their love.
Lord, bless
us with a sweetness of speech, a desire to work through struggles and stick to
it when we’re tempted to flee, the discipline to quickly forgive and to ask for
forgiveness, and a growing thankfulness for one another. Amen
