The sun dipped low in the sky, creating a tidal wave of majestic colors. The deep abyss of blue’s and orange’s mingled together and created a bundle of joy that is purple. The breeze was an affectionate kiss of warmth and soothing comfort as it tenderly brushed by the tree branches. The town square was alive with laughter and life. On a simple wooden bench surrounded by trees and a newly lit lamp post, an old man sat comfortably watching the aforementioned laughter and life. His legs were crossed neatly and his hands, which had seen so much of life, sat primly on top. A father walked by with his two young sons and they greedily ate their ice cream. “I love you daddy,” the youngest one said in his squeaky little voice. The father affectionately rubbed the boys brown hair and said, “I love you too.” The old man, observing closely with his wise eyesight, smiled faintly. He had one son before, Richie, who died tragically in a motor vehicle accident in the late 50s at the tender age of seventeen. He remembered fondly taking his boy out fishing and hearing those beautiful three words. Feeling a faint skip in his heartbeat, he cleared his throat from the emotion swelling up and looked back to the crowd.
A group of teens laughed as they left the movie theater. Two boys kicked a trashcan and the old man narrowed his eyes, his favorite word popped naturally, ‘Punks.’ “Luke!” One of the girls in the group shouted angrily, “Pick that up! I’m not gonna get grounded again for hanging out with you!” Luke laughed with immaturity, picked up the black can and sang, “Miss Do-Gooder!” “Heal the world!” The other boy shouted dramatically. The girls in the group laughed while the angry sister shook her head. Luke suddenly wrapped his arm around her as they continued to walk and said, “Aw sis, I love you anyway!” “Shut up!!” She shouted back and the group erupted into laughter. The old man was reminded of his own sister who had died twenty years earlier of a long illness. He smiled fondly; she would have never let him hang out with her friends.
There was a quick strong gust of the breeze and the old man’s hat toppled over to the ground. He reached down to grab it, but was wracked with coughs. He opened his eyes and saw a young, feminine hand sweep his hat up from the ground and hand it back to him. He looked up and saw a kind smile in return. What a friendly thing to do, he thought. There needs to be more people like her in the world. He nodded in thanks and watched the young woman walk towards a couple who began kissing in the middle of the courtyard. Suddenly, the young woman screamed and pulled the kissing couple apart, lunging at the other woman. The man, whose lips were red from his kissing partner’s lipstick, put his hands up helplessly as two officers ran over to break up the fight. As the women proceeded to pull each other’s hair out, the man put his hands in his pocket, began to whistle and quietly slipped away from the melee. The old man couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably. How unpredictable life was! He remembered his best friend Morty constantly being in the same situation. All through high school Morty couldn’t keep a gal because he was so smitten with all the attention he got from the other gals. Morty was handsome and charming. He could persuade a lady in white gloves to buy a mud pie. He and Morty were drafted in the war right after high school. Morty was killed the first night there. As the police took the two women away, the old man sobered. His hand wobbled as he reached up to wipe a tear that had gathered as he laughed. He stopped suddenly when more coughs continued to ravage through his lungs. When he finally looked up, the air seemed to evaporate from his lungs altogether.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of a young couple walking together as they left a romantic Italian restaurant. The young man’s arm was draped protectively around the woman. The light from the lamps reflected the glint of a wedding ring on his finger. He grabbed the woman’s hand and kissed it lightly. She was wearing a matching wedding band. The old man was fascinated, hooked, he couldn’t look away. The man looked around secretively and plucked a daisy from one of the flower beds in the Square. He handed it to his wife and she smiled bashfully. As they walked closer to him, he noticed why he was so hooked; the young couples were both people with Downs Syndrome. A stern voice was heard, “Nicholas! Plucking the flowers is a huge no-no!” The old man looked behind them and saw an older woman supervising them. Nicholas laughed, put his arm on his wife’s back and hurried her ahead. The older woman began to chase them. It reminded him of his Poppy. He could see her now, with her wild red hair and face peppered with freckles that turned white every time she yelled at him. They were childhood sweethearts, hating each other for so long before eventually falling madly in love. They had married in their senior year of high school and stayed together through thick and thin.
The old man began coughing again and when he stopped to take a deep breath, he felt a hand touch his own. He looked up and saw the Lord. It had to be Him. He had the holes in His hands for proof. The old man couldn’t hear the people that had gathered around him in the Square or the ambulance in the distance. The Lord smiled at him and the old man cried. “Christopher…” the Lord said. Christopher fell to the Lord’s feet and said, “Thank you…thank you for saving me…” The Lord helped him up and gave him a big hug. “I love you,” the Lord answered. When Christopher pulled away he realized that he was in a green field. It was bright, but there was no sun. Suddenly, a figure ran to him. It was his Poppy. Crying uncontrollably, Christopher ran to her and they embraced. They weren’t old any longer, but young and vibrant. Chris looked up again and saw his son, Richie, who had accepted the Lord as his savior two weeks before he died. “Richie!” Chris sobbed. He was surrounded by love.
There’s familial love, there’s spouse love…then there’s the love of the Lord. Whatever love you’re celebrating today, leap for joy, leap for love. Happy Valentine’s Day!
(This was my contribution to the Christian Blog Chain on CW. The theme is 'leap'. Check out the other contributions through my sidebar. This is also my last blog for a while, it has been so much fun being a part of the chain since October of last year. I can't wait to join up again, hopefully in a few months!)
