Sweet Love

On Saturday morning I took Anna to Target for some "girl time." She loves looking at crafty stuff and buying seasonal decorations so we got some things for Valentine's Day. And I let her sip some of my chai, so she was having a blast.

As we were paying at the checkout, I noticed an older couple in front of us talking to the cashier. They walked away and the cashier kept gazing after them, smiling and saying, "that's sooo sweet." I asked what had happened.

"They just won a brand new car from some raffle in Enfield," she said, "and the husband said, 'Actually, I won it' and his wife said, 'I won too -- I got you.' They've been married for 50 years." The cashier confided she was getting teary-eyed, and I understood.

Out in the parking lot, I watched them. They were slowed by age...one of them had a cane. The husband had a protective arm across his wife's back as they got into a shiny red car in a handicapped parking space. They were talking, laughing, enjoying a trip to Target as if it were something much grander. I watched them and couldn't stop smiling, wondering about their life's story.

It's often presented as such, but love is not a holiday, an occasion, a fleeting feeling or a whim. Sometimes it's a choice. It can be hard work, but the rewards are sweet.

I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter that's become cliche because people tend to hear it at every wedding they attend...but how often are the words remembered and studied beyond the ceremony and into the marriage?

"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails."

Like the sweet couple with the sparkling new car, touching hearts without even knowing.