Thursday, March 15, 2012

Man in the Parking Lot.. Sent by God

I am a firm believer in angels. I believe that God sends people to you for a reason when you are least expecting them and they share something with you that you needed to hear, even if you didn't know that you needed to hear it.

Today, I met a man named John, while in the parking lot with my toddler. I just pulled into a parking spot one isle across from him and saw that he had a shopping cart, he only had a few bags left in it and I had my toddler on my hip. As I approached, I asked, "can I take that cart off your hands?" He looked at me, smiled, waved to munchkin and being neighborly said, "sure it's all yours."

John shook munchkin's hand and asked him if he was being a big helper for mommy and being good, I snickered and munchkin just smiled, hey, mommy was holding him and he wanted a treat so he was behaving for the moment, unlike less than 5 minutes before when he was having a fit.

Out of habit I checked my phone, I thought I felt it vibrate like it does when I get a text message; I was waiting for a text or a call from my husband. John looked at me an I told him I was waiting to hear from my husband, he just smiled at me and said, "I lost my wife of 40 years this past week. Her memorial is this weekend." WOW. What do you say to that?! He told me I reminded him of his wife and he asked if my husband travels if that's why I was waiting to hear from him. I told him about Hubby traveling and that he has been gone all week. John told me that he owns a business in LA and he lives there 4 days a week and keeps a house here; he would always call his wife when he was on his way home to let her know, so she could go back into that 'mode' of when he was there.

We spoke a few more minutes about being married and then John told me, "I called her cell phone the other day to tell her I was on my way home to see her and that I loved her. It was such a habit, that I didn't think about it, until I was hanging up, then I realized what I had done. After 40 years of marriage, I still thought to tell her I was on my way home and that I loved her." It took every bit of effort for me NOT to cry.

My husband and I had a fight last night, one that we have had numerous times since we got together; I know in my heart how much I love him and how much he loves me. Listening to John touched me and made me realize how much I do love my husband, even when I want to strangle him sometimes. Like John said, "Anger and Passion are so closely related that they are almost the same emotion, remember that the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. When you see your husband, give him a big hug and kiss, tell him you love him and forget the negative stuff. 40 years is a long time to be married and we had our own ups and downs, in the end, we grew together. She made our house a home." 

God send John to share his story with me.; no doubt in my mind about that. Why else wouldn't their have been a shopping cart or two in the cart return or close by? I needed to hear John's story, and I am so glad I did. God Bless John and his wife who is waiting for him in Heaven. 

1 comment:

  1. What a beautiful thing to read. It is so true. No matter how much you and your spouse fight (as long as it is within reason), you are lucky to have them. John is an incredible man to have loved his wife for so long, and I bet they had their up and down times, but to the end, they stuck together.
    Sounds like you love your husband very much to. I hope the two of you keep the love that John and his wife did.

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