Doug E. Pudge

A Hopeful Look At My Future

You know, I was thinking. Every Wednesday night before I go to my bowling league in Tecumseh I usually stop off some where for dinner. Last night I ate at the Country House restaurant on the corner of M-50 & M-52. Now if you are not familiar with this establishment it is a very popular place to eat for senior citizens (insert Pudgeman joke here)! I heard and saw a number of things that made me smile last night. I left there feeling good about my future and about life in general. Here are some of the observations that I made:

In the parking lot there was a elderly gentleman that got his wife's wheelchair out of the trunk of their car and then picked her up out of the front seat and placed her carefully in the chair. I thought to myself, "if I ever was blessed enough to be around and still be with my wife at that age, I hope I would have the strength and desire to give that kind of love to her." He did it with a smile and probably didn't even realize that anyone noticed, but I did. So, I waited at the door to the restaurant and held the door for them. He said with a happy voice "well, thank you"! I just smiled and said "you're welcome."

I sat down near a couple of tables of seniors who obviously knew each other. At the table right next to me were three people (one man and two ladies). The lady sitting directly next to the gentleman was his wife and the lady sitting on the other side of the table was a sister to one of them (didn't quite listen intently enough to figure that one out). The sister across the table was either mostly or completely blind. The comedic bantor between these three people and the couple right next to them was fun to listen to. When the waitress brought out the salads for the three next to me she did something that amazed me. She reached over and grabbed a large bib that was brought to the restaurant by the blind womans sister (sister-in-law) and she placed it on the woman. Now, I don't know if this waitress (Heather) knew these people or not but she knew the need and acted on providing for that need. I thought to myself now that is love in action right there. Many waitresses would have just gone on doing the things that they are "paid" to do and to just let those little things get taken care of by the people that brought her. I made sure that since Heather was also my waitress that I threw a little extra on the table just because!

Down on the other end of the restaurant was another couple, not quite as old as the others in the restaurant but probably in their late fifties. They had ordered hot sandwiches with gravy on them. When the food arrived it wasn't very hot so they very politely told the waitress (Heather again) about the problem. Heather immediately apologized for the situation and took the plates back into the kitchen for some reheating. Almost as soon as Heather went into the kitchen, out came the cook and went straight over to the table of the couple in question to make his apologies for the situation. Soon Heather came out with fresh (and apparently hot) sandwiches for the couple who seemed quite pleased with the results. I thought to myself that some people would have used this opportunity to be rude to their server, but these folks didn't care about getting angry, they just wanted hot sandwiches. I just smiled as I thought about how a little kindness goes a long way.

When Heather had come by to refill my coffee cup and to take my soup bowl (corn chowder that was delicious); She asked "how was the soup?" I said "it was wonderful." She then told me that my chicken would be up soon, it was taking a little longer than usual because they were busy this night. I told her "that's fine, I'm in no hurry." WOW! I can't remember the last time that I had said that to someone! I really wasn't in a hurry. It was 5:50 and I still had 25 minutes before I needed to leave and head to the bowling alley. It was almost as if time stood still for me during this little stop of mine. I really relaxed and enjoyed it.

As I was leaving the Country House I couldn't help but to think about the life that is ahead of me with Rachel. How I long for the day that we will be the elderly couple (insert Pudgeman joke here) in the corner of the restaurant taking care of one another and being even more in love at that stage of our lives than we are today. Thank you God for leading me to this place last night and showing me all of the things that you showed me. Slow down a little bit and take a look around you. God is speaking, are you listening? Be blessed beyond belief today.

posted by Doug E. Pudge @ 7:47 AM