Growing Old Together: A Story of Kindness

I hope I am not alone in thinking from time to time about what it might be like to grow old together with my partner. I used to do imagine things like this with other long-term partners too. Today I witnessed a heartwarming event between elderly people that I wanted to relate.

I was at the Roche Bros. Supermarket (it's a bit high-end if you're not familiar with it) and there were five tables. All tables were taken up by an individual senior citizen, or by a couple. I, and two-middle aged, working class men were the only people there below 65. Anyway, this one lady had "reserved" a table while she was standing in line. I say "reserved" 'cuz she didn't leave her jacket on the table or any other sort of sign, she just kept slowly trotting back to her table when people "mistakenly" thought it was available. This couple came in. The man looked grumpy and wore a gray newspaper-boy cap. His wife looked kinder, although she had difficulty walking. She didn't have a cane or anything, she just used her husband's arm for support. They of course, tried to take the "unreserved reserved table" like everyone else did. Seeing no tables available, her husband asked her if she wanted to sit at the window on those "elevated seats" one sees at some restaurants.

The wife didn't want to sit on the elevated seats. Grumper exclaimed "C'mon, I just want a cup of coffee!"so she relented, and shuffled over. It became evident why she didn't want to sit in an elevated seat. Even with her husband's help, she no longer had the flexibility to climb up the chair. 

 "No, no! I don't want to sit here!" she cried out. "I want to go home." Grumper muttered under his breath and looked wildly around for a newly emptied seat. I nearly vacated my seat right there, but an old lady, waiting to have coffee with her friend at Roche Bros. asked if they were going to eat or not. 

Grumper replied "No, no! We're just gonna have a cup of coffee and maybe a pastry." Kind Lady invited them to have a seat. Grumper's wife sat down, and her husband went to buy drinks. "Don't worry dear, I don't bite," Kind Lady jokingly said to the wife. 

Sometimes, I get really discouraged when I travel through the crowded parts of Boston. People tend to be pushy and abrupt, if not outright rude. "Where did the value of kindness go?" I wonder sometimes. But I saw this today and I smiled. I hope we all have partners who will be as kind as Grumper when we are old. And I hope there will always be Kind Ladies in the world.