"UNDYING LOVE"
Undying Love
While waiting to pick up a friend at the
airport in
Portland, Oregon, I had one of those
life-changing
experiences that you hear other people talk
about - the
kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This
one occurred
a mere two feet away from me.
Straining to locate my friend among the
passengers
deplaning through the jetway, I noticed a man
coming
toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped
right next
to me to greet his family.
First he
motioned to his
youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid
down his
bags. They gave each other a long, loving
hug. As they
separated enough to look in each other's
face, I heard the
father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I
missed you so
much!"
His son smiled somewhat shyly,
averted his
eyes and replied softly, "Me, too,
Dad!"
Then the
man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest
son (maybe
nine or ten) and while cupping his son's face
in his hands
said, "You're already quite the young man. I
love you very
much, Zach!" They too hugged a most loving,
tender hug.
While this was happening, a baby girl
(perhaps one or
one-and-a-half) was squirming excitedly in
her mother's
arms, never once taking her little eyes off
the wonderful
sight of her returning father.
The man
said, "Hi,
baby girl!" as he gently took the child from
her mother.
He quickly kissed her face all over and then
held her
close to his chest while rocking her from
side to side.
The little girl instantly relaxed and simply
laid her head
on his shoulder,motionless in pure
contentment.
After several moments, he handed his daughter
to his
oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best
for last,"
and proceeded to give his wife the longest,
most
passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. He
gazed into her
eyes for several seconds and then silently
mouthed. "I
love you so much!"
They stared at each
other's
eyes, beaming big smiles at one another,
while holding
both hands. For an instant they reminded me
of newlyweds,
but I knew by the age of their kids that they
couldn't
possibly be.
I puzzled about it for a
moment then
realized how totally engrossed I was in the
wonderful
display of unconditional love not more than
an arm's
length away from me.
I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was
invading
something sacred, but was amazed to hear my
own voice
nervously ask, "Wow! How long have you two
been
married?"
"Been together fourteen
years total,
married twelve of those," he replied, without
breaking his
gaze from his lovely wife's face.
"Well, then, how
long have you been away?" I asked.
The man finally
turned and looked at me, still beaming his
joyous smile.
"Two whole days!"
Two days? I was
stunned.
By the intensity of the greeting, I had
assumed he'd been
gone for at least several weeks -- if not
months. I know
my expression betrayed me.
I said
almost
off-handedly, hoping to end my intrusion with
some
semblance of grace (and to get back to
searching for my
friend), "I hope my marriage is still that
passionate
after twelve years!"
The man suddenly stopped smiling. He looked
me straight
in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned
right into
my soul, he told me something that left me a
different
person. He told me, "Don't hope, friend ...
decide!"
Then he flashed me his
wonderful smile
again, shook my hand and said, "God
bless!"
With that, he and his family turned and
strode away
together.
I was still watching that
exceptional man
and his special family walk just out of sight
when my
friend came up to me and asked, "What'cha
looking
at?"
Without hesitating, and with a
curious sense
of certainty, I replied, "My future!"
~~written by Sprottin ( another online editor
)~~
Email: submit2u@webtv.net