Today I went to the nursing home to serve homebound communion. I served it to one woman who has cancer and is near death. As always she was very sweet. She encourages me and cheers our church on every time I see her. We have shared communion many times. I enjoy her immensely.
Then I went and offered communion to a second woman in the nursing home. I will call her Gertrude (not real name). Gertrude is fun for me because she is ornery. One moment she can be glad to see you, the next angry that anyone has disturbed her silence. Each time I visit toward the beginning of the month I bring homebound communion. Usually she refuses to recieve the Lord's Supper. Today she accepted. It was a meaningful time for both of us. As often happens when homebound people recieve the Lord's Supper, her eyes looked a little moist. With Gertrude, it would be hard for her to admit she was crying.
As I left a gentleman walked in. Actually, the gentleman kind of shuffled in to say hello to Gertrude. My friend introduced us two to one another. The gentleman began to share how he always sits with Gertrude at dinner time. He said they sit at the tall table, and that they are there because it is made especially so that wheelchairs like Gertrude's can get under the tabletop. He talked about how he often got Gertrude's tray for her, and put it away when she was done with it. I looked back at Gertrude. She had that ornery look in her eye, like when she is really enjoying something, or like those times when she was up to no good. And Gertrude had her head tilted to the side, and she appeared to blushing a little bit. Gertrude was also smiling. She had the kind of smile that demonstrated for anyone watching that she adored being the center of this man's attention. It was very cute.
Watching this woman and her gentleman suitor intrigued me. The man was about the same age as she was, and he appeared to be a little slow of mind. It made me wonder if he had a stroke at some point. Gertrude adored him though. She couldn't hide it. It made me wonder, we're they falling in love? Perhaps so I pondered.
That led me to start pondering the difference between "young love" and "old love". Young love is about how someone makes you laugh, what kind of car they have, how they look in a tight pair of jeans and such. But what about "old love". Old love is having someone who wheels you into your special table in the cafeteria, goes and gets your tray for you, and takes your tray back in the afternoon. "Old love" drops by for a few minutes in the middle of the day at the nursing home just to see if you are ok. All of the other stuff, the beauty pageant kind of love, the trying to find the perfect one kind of infatuation fades away. And what is left? The man who will get your tray at dinner. The woman who adores you simply because you are better to her than she ever expected anyone to be. I kind of like "old love"
4 comments:
This made me cry... I hope to have that kind of love when I am old. What a nice thought to still be able to find love even then.
This reminds me of some of the things you shared in your devotional at our wedding. Lovely thoughts.
So lovely! Seeing older couples in love is such a blessing to us young'uns, as it reminds us of the kind of true love that lasts. Thank you for your reflections!
What a sweet post! My husband and I try to make it to a local "ballroom" dance (more swing and waltzes and no fancy dresses) that is held once a month. The coordinator teaches at the local college - which is how we came upon this group. BUT, I say this, because our favorite part is watching the 80 somethings out dancing with each other. That is what we want - old, grey, wrinkled, shorter but still enjoying each others company. Old love. yup, that is the ticket.
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