Every morning when I get off the bus at the final terminal station, I take a 'shortcut' through the huge neighbouring mall to get to my office building.
This is the time when most of us are still bleary-eyed and cold, half asleep and ready to crash back into our seats at our desks with our first cup of coffee. At least, that's usually me. But, every morning as I take that 10 minute walk through the mall to get to the egress closest to my office building, I traverse by the food court, where a phalanx of elderly folks have already spent most of their mornings taking their daily exercise around the mall a few times, then settling down for their cups of coffee, tea, bagels and biscuits from the Tim Horton's which opens early to cater to them.
I admire them. They still have the will to get up that early in the frigid cold and make their ways to still exercise. They have the willpower yet still to remain healthy, and if you take a moment to look at them, they've still got that lovely sparkle in their eyes telling you that life is still worth it.
As I approach the final 30 seconds toward the exiting doors, every morning as I turn the corner I come upon two very frail elderly persons. Arm in arm supporting one another, white-haired, support-shoed, dentured, hunched over, they are there almost every morning. Some mornings I see them smiling politely with another elderly person, or involved in early morning chit-chat, some mornings she's holding him carefully as he's breathing through nose-nubs, or leaning on a walker, but they are always, always together.
This morning as I came upon the food court area, there is a bench that's just outside the seating plan of the eating area, and upon this bench was this elderly white haired couple. Arm in arm, hand in hand, they sat, and they couldn't have noticed anyone else, for they - as old as they may be - were lost in their own world, giggling to one another, sharing moments of mirth, in their own conversation, sparkling eyes fixed upon one another, in love.
In celebrating love, I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day: may the love at its foundation resonate through all your other days of the year.
