"I haven't seen you in like, forever, where have you been?" He said to me last evening, late, thus opening the door to the inevitable banter about this, that, the weather, how long it's taking summer to get the hint and scram, you know... the predictable chatter between a man and a woman who have just a casual work related interest in one another. I answered, the usual, training, writing, moving, vacations not spent in the pursuit of all things happiness. He knew already, everyone does. "And your husband?" Three words, braced with the hint of danger.
"He's good... now." Standard reply, but this man knows me better than that. A raised eyebrow, a twitch of facial muscles, "Now?" I begin to explain the tedium and complexity of the numerous trips to the hospital, the surgeries, the pain, the recovery, the dreaded superbug, it's aftermath and finally the long, slow, painful and yet delightful and lovely road to recovery. He nods appreciatively throughout and I see something in him that has gone lacking in others. An understanding? A flicker of self discovery perhaps? It seems I've never really given this man credit for the depth that I've only now discovered. I wonder why I didn't see it before.
This man and the handsome husband are roughly the same age - give or take a couple months, they served the Army at the same time, same function and same base, they each have brothers, they almost look like they could be brothers, they have wives and each has a daughter. Both know how it feels to be separated from that female offspring for a period of time. Yes, there is understanding, there is the what-if-it-were-me thoughts, there is compassion and I'm left seeing this man, who typically gives out nicknames and makes a thousand cute jokes as he breezes past, in a completely different light now. And I find myself thinking that it's good, very good, once in a while to discover someone with such a special soul still exists in the universe.
No comments:
Post a Comment