“We love to walk these trails together.
In honor of our 75th birthdays
Alton Skipper July 4, 1925
Nita Kurtley Jan 25, 1926″
He walked slightly hunched over – both of his hands shoved down to the bottom of his coat pockets – the collar turned up to provide some minute measure of protection from the chilly afternoon. He made his way to the bench positioned where he could watch the lovers stroll through the park. His eyes were ancient – he avoided direct eye contact. His grey hair glistened in the fading daylight caught with the orange glow of the sun. He sighed deeply as he lowered himself onto the bench.
This was just an ordinary bench in an ordinary park in an ordinary city, but its position gave him extraordinary power. His mind began shifting when he saw the two figures approaching. Their gait slow – casual – without a thought for what the morrow may hold. Their hands and arms intermingled as they laughed and strolled through the park. He was witnessing intimacy so deep that it propelled him back in time, and suddenly he was walking this path 60 years ago with the girl of his dreams. They reminisced of the day they met – a chance encounter at a busy bustling intersection. He was walking north – she was going south – accompanied by their respective friends. Their eyes met on that busy street amid all those people, and though they keep walking right past each other, their eyes remained locked as if nothing else – no one else existed. He left his friends, turning left to parallel her – their gaze still being held captive by the other one. Brazenly, he hurried to the next intersection to intercept her and the rest was history, as they say. One hand wrapped around his and the other one around his upper arm. They moved through the park – talking about life – their hopes – their dreams. She smiled in a way that made her whole face dance.
Her laugh pulled him back from his memories – as the couple passed by him on that bench. Once again he had a spent a snippet of time with his love. He longed to stop the young couple – now moving farther away from him. He longed to tell them of all the things he would do differently now if he had the chance. He longed to tell them that their evening walk through this park rocketed him backwards through time – even if only for a few precious moments. He longed to tell them not to forsake their walks when their lives became busy with work, kids, school. He longed to tell them to hold each other now and everyday as if it were the last. He wanted so very badly to tell them about priorities – about love – about the depth of their relationship. He wanted them to know that every force would come against their romance to see if laid aside like a coat shed at the front door. He never told them. He was afraid if he did the power of the ordinary young couple walking in an ordinary park past an ordinary old man on an ordinary bench would fade away. And he wanted to see her – his love – again tomorrow.
- Of the people whom you know now, which ones will you miss the most if they were to die suddenly?
- If they died, what would you see as a missed opportunity for conversation?What would you say? Could you tell them now?
- What time would you want to “relive” with each of those people? Why?
- Of the moments in your life that are special – those that you want to relive – would a day you received an honor or promotion be one of them?
Lord, help us to remember that people in our life are what make up the memories we cherish most! In Jesus’ name, Amen.