Tugging at my heart....

Yesterday I had a client at my desk that was inquiring about making air reservations. Nothing out of the ordinary except that he was a real talker. I'm guessing he was in his mid 70's and he was really very sweet. I could tell that he was lonely and enjoyed having someone to banter with.

During the course of giving him the information that he came in to get he had told me about winters that he and his wife had spent in Phoenix, stories about his children, places that he wanted to see before his time was up, etc. Then he became very still and quiet.

I wasn't sure what to do exactly. A fair amount of time passed and I finally asked if there was anything else that I could do for him. He looked at me and said, "It's really hard getting old and I miss my wife so much". Then he started to cry.

Now I'm a sympathy crier so I started to panic a little because the last thing I wanted to do was start crying in front of this man that I didn't even know! I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh, what do I say to this poor man?"

He apologized for his reaction to his thoughts and of course I could only tell him that he needn't worry about it. I felt so bad for this man. He loved and missed his wife so much that even after six years of being without her his heart still ached. He told me that it was unexpected and that she died of a brain tumor that she never realized she had.

I told him how sorry I was. What else could I say?

After he left I couldn't shake the thought of how amazing it is to love someone so much that you can't fathom ever being without them. I hope that everyone that I know and love will experience that in their lifetime.