Last Friday, while at lunch with my friend, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find an elderly gentleman at the table behind me handing me something as he said, “Happy Valentine’s Day”. We were close enough that I could tell that he was probably in his 80’s, his hair white as snow and his eyeglasses large. I could also identify the item he was offering, a small heart-shaped Whitman’s sampler. I immediately thanked him and he brought out a second candy box which I passed to my friend.
He would get up from his table several times with a plastic bag full of the chocolates and venture to other areas of the restaurant to spread the upcoming holiday’s cheer. He and the younger man with him left before my friend and I did, and as they were putting on their coats we thanked him once again for his kind gesture, enthusiastically assuring him that he had made our day. The man with him, perhaps his son, said, “He’s always been a lady’s man” and the Candy Man gave an unapologetic shrug.
I hope that when I’m his age, which anymore doesn’t seem so very far away, I’ve grown and changed with the times, but that I also am still me. And I hope, like this charming man, I can find ways to share my heart with others.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
