So Many Years

They were not the typical customers you'd find in a hip store like T J Maxx. Anyone who glanced at them only saw two old people taking up space. But they had done everything together for so many years and this was no exception.

When you took the time to really look at them, you could see their entire life story in their eyes. The first time they saw each other was at a V-Day celebration at the VFW. He stood there at the bar in full uniform; his straight black hair and a rugged face made other men envious. Now, what little hair he had left was white and wiry, his strong soldier physique had been replaced by a frail replica, and his deep, commanding voice over the year became raspy. She had the hair of Rita Hayworth and a body to match. All the soldiers wanted to dance with her, but she was smitten by him and never gave the other men a second look. She long ago said good bye to her strawberry blonde hair and arthritis had betrayed her body. But when they looked at each other, they felt young again; for them time had stood still.

She liked to dress nice for him. She liked the way he still looked at her after so many years. So she went into the dressing room and he waited. He stood outside the dressing room, getting jostled by the young girls hurrying about. No one said excuse me; most barely noticed him as he stood slightly hunched over. But he continued to stand there faithfully; waiting for her to emerge.

A few minutes later she did just that. She was wearing a stylish canary yellow pantsuit that accented her little butt cheeks just the way he liked. She knew yellow was his favorite color.

"How do I look?" she asked her handsome beau.

"You look pretty good to me, sweetie!" and the way he said it you knew he was talking about more than just the outfit.

They smiled at each other. And I smiled too. Because, it was at that moment I could see the love they felt for each other was just as strong now as it was when they first met so many years ago. And as my wedding day quickly approached, I hoped it would be like this for my future husband and me so many years from now.