STRANGERS STORIES

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This morning I stood in line at a local small town coffee shop. The sky was a deep blue and the town was buzzing. Everyone was going about their day, looking ahead at the activity filled agenda. But then there was an older couple waiting in the coffee line right in front of me. The man stood comfortably reading the daily paper with not a care in the world for the bustling atmosphere around him. He received each word with genuine interest. After reading the last journal entry the man folded the paper and set it back on the counter from which he first took it. As we inched our way closer to the front of the line I watched as the man snapped a picture of his wife looking at the menu. He smiled with content at his picture and the beauty of his wife. The couple placed their order and found a table close to me. They shared a green smoothie. 1 smoothie, 2 straws. The older couple seemed to function as one. They moved with the same mannerisms. She looked at him like she knew his actions before he moved. I imagine they have been married for at least 35 years. They could have children and grandchildren. They could be highs school sweethearts or met in a foreign country. Regardless, the couple was so in love it radiated. You could tell, they were soulmates. If life is a game then love is so evidently the prize. To feel that way is not a gift everyone is given.