I looked up at the clock on my office wall. 11:15AM and closing in
on lunchtime again.

My assistant Larry and I had been leaving for lunch at 11:30 for
almost 6-years now and today would be the same.

I thought about Larry for a few moments, he had to be by far the
best assistant I had ever had and he watched over some of the most
important parts of this Circulation Department.

Larry was a big man, actually a huge man and with me at
5-9 and 145 LBS I wondered how many times someone
had said “here comes Mutt and Jeff again”, at some location.

I sat at my desk with a big smile after that thought until I
realized someone might look in and wonder
if I had drifted toward insanity.

Larry returned from my mailroom right on time and I asked him
if he was ready to go.
Answering yes, I got up and slipped on my winter coat as
we started out the door toward his Truck.

In less than 5-minutes we had parked at the Maggie Mae diner
where we had our lunches almost everyday for
the last few years.

Today the place had a small crowd and we were seated immediately.

Larry and I looked over the menu that we knew quite well by now
but it was all part of the tradition if that’s a good way to put it.

I looked up at the door we had entered and I saw an older man
come in and look around.
He left and in a moment I saw him slowly enter again,
helping an older lady along.

Stopping at the Coat rack, he took his off, shaking the light snow
off as he hung it up. He worked carefully with her in removing her
heavy Coat, shaking it some before hanging it beside his.

He helped her manipulate her walker around the first tables
and into some open space. They moved very
slowly and this man watched her every step carefully.

The waiter was leading them and he found the nearest open table,
which was within just a few steps.

I thought “this old fella called here first to be sure they had a table”

Maybe he did, maybe he did not? How could I know that?
And why was I so captivated in watching their every move?

He handed her a menu and reached across the table to
touch her hand. She smiled at him
and you could tell that this lunch was one of the special things
that were left for these two.

The waiter came to their table and they ordered and then each
sipped on what looked like Iced Tea as they talked.

By now they were holding hands and my heart just ached
for the beauty of it. Most people only have
what I was watching a few times in their entire life and here
was this old couple that had never lost it.

When the meals that they had ordered came, he waited
until the last plate was placed on the table
before moving around the table and sitting down next to her.

Aww, I thought, they had both ordered Maggie Mae’s
Chicken Fried Steak, a fine choice.
I had made the same choice many, many times myself.

He took his time in cutting hers up into small pieces before moving
back to his side of the table.

I had known for awhile now that this was just not “Another Lunch”.
In watching this old couple something had become
so very special and rare about this day.

Larry and I finished eating and paid at the register, then started out.
I stopped for one last look at the two then put on my own Coat
to head back to work.

Once in awhile you happen to get lucky like I did that day at
Maggie Mae’s, I have never forgotten those two
and that was over 10-years ago.

Larry and I had many lunches at Maggie Mae’s during
the next 4-years and I always watched for the old couple,
but I never saw them again.

Maybe each of us get to watch something like I saw that day only
once. Maybe some of us really see what we are watching.
Maybe it passes others unnoticed.

With all the maybe’s, the only thing for sure that day was the
beauty of it all.

Bobby
2007