This is a short one!
The other day, in between classes and work, I saw a little display of pure joyful love. =)
After hours upon hours of class, I stop at Of The Taco (hehe...inside joke with myself) to get a snack before I am scheduled to endure three hours of retail torture. Because my car (mentioned in a previous blog) has no air conditioning, the short ride from campus to food is unnecessarily painful. It takes precisely 35 seconds after entering my car to begin sweating. Needless to say, when I arrive at OTT, I am desperate to get inside. I am in such a sweaty rush that I nearly knock over a homeless man and get hit by a car en route to the door.
Once inside, I am in ecstasy. The combination of blasting air and sweat droplets is amazing...and slightly sticky. I order what I always order because I am a creature of habit and fear culinary change. I sit down with my delicious meal and prepare to enjoy. After I have eaten 3-5 french fries, I realize that I am officially freezing (I have a very low tolerance for being cold). And since I must be within 5-10 degrees of my preferred temperature in order to digest food, I pick up my tray and go outside.
There's not much outside, save for a few parked cars, pigeons, and the homeless man talking happily to both of them. I am much more comfortable, temperature-wise, and my meal is delicious. I’m nearly done when I hear a burst of laughter from behind me. I startle and turn to see the source. I have a few guesses as a I turn around: another homeless man, laughing to himself? Someone obnoxiously talking on their cell phone much more loudly than they need to?
As the person rounds the corner I discover that it’s a woman, walking with what appears to be her family. The supposed mother and father are carrying heavy looking Target bags and are accompanied by two very young children. I KNOW they must be hot; it’s 90 degrees out here! Their shirts are slightly damp and the mother’s hair is sticking to her forehead. The mother laughs again, a laugh so deep and loud that it startles me again. The father looks at her with an open mouthed smile. He seems so pleased to be the source of her laughter. The mother is laughing so hard she is out of breath (please imagine laughing your hardest while carrying a child and some Target bags…in 90 degree weather…after you’ve walked a couple of blocks).
This alone was heart warming…to see someone laugh that hard in the middle of a hot day. In Spanish I hear the little boy ask the mother what is wrong and why is she laughing. I expected to hear her explain some watered down version of her husband’s joke. Or to simply say nothing and continue laughing. But her explanation of her laughter brought a true smile to my face. After taking a few breaths to calm herself, she answered: Nothing sweetheart, it’s just that I love your father.
And as he pulled the door open for his family to squeeze through, the father and mother exchanged a look that spoke volumes of love and companionship for better or for worse.
