Ordering Dessert
My imagination tends to trail off sometimes and before I know it, I’m thinking up these fictional storylines about different people that catch my attention in public.
Except for this most recent time, I usually forget about whatever my imagination concocts by the end of the day. My husband and I had gone shopping and stopped somewhere for lunch before heading back to Olney. While the waiter took us to our seats we had passed by an elderly man, maybe in his 80s, sitting by himself at a table meant for two. He was apathetically eating his dessert (almost as if he were lost in his thoughts). There was no sign anyone was ever at the table with him.
I don’t know about other people, but I’m not the type of person who dines at a restaurant alone, which is why he caught my attention. Next thing I know I started picturing different scenarios about why it was just him sitting there. I wondered where his wife was. Maybe she had passed away and he was reliving one of his memories of her: them sharing a chocolate molten brownie together.
– I know, I know… a sad but yet sweet scenario, right? It’s also quite possible the reason was much less depressing; He could have been just running errands around town and stopped here to satisfy a craving he had for something sweet. However, the wife scenario made me realize how often simple, everyday moments in life are taken for granted. Moments that we don’t pay attention to until they are gone forever. It dawned on me how many times Chris and I have gone out to eat but NEVER stayed for dessert. How many moments and opportunities in our marriage were we taking for granted?
After we were seated at our table, I quietly pointed the old man out to my husband. We ordered our food and discussed possible reasons why he was alone, including my wife scenario. After we ate, the waiter asked if we were ready for our check. What my husband did next is the reason why I will never forget that old man sitting alone with his brownie. Chris simply looked up, smiled at me, and said to the waiter, “I think we would like to see the dessert menu.”
While I will never know why that man was really there by himself, I know that because of him I will savor every moment I spend with my husband. So, make that time, order some dessert together. We sure will.