It's the little things

It was a day to celebrate!
Well, nothing monumental,
but she was finally, after six weeks,
released from her dreaded crutches.
The sun was shining and it had stopped snowing,
but it was a bit too cold to venture into the state park
for some photo opportunities.
She decided on breakfast instead.

Three pancakes, two eggs, two strips of crispy bacon
and all the coffee she could drink!
She felt so free!
As she sipped her coffee, and opened up her kindle,
she continued to read the story she was struggling to get interested in.
In this chapter, a girl was being helped into and out of a car.

The memories of her early marriage days,
when her husband would offer the same kindnesses,
flooded back to her.
She had been married over twenty six years now,
and those days seemed to be so far away.
She let her mind wander.
Out the window, into the crisp chilly air,
the bright sun who had been hiding for what seemed months appeared
and there were sounds of the people near her talking.

A young girl was explaining that she learned to set the table in gym class.
This caught her attention and brought her back to the present.
The small girl, in gym class, had large forks, knives and spoons,
to arrange on a table during a relay race.
They had to be in the proper order or you got sent back to the beginning.

This seemed cute until the memory of her mother
teaching her this task every mealtime,
made her long for simpler times.
Everything seemed so difficult these days,
and no one really just talked anymore.
Everyone was on their IPhones, or Ipads or Kindles.
Hahaha.
She did like the convenience of her many books on one purse sized device.

She looked out the window once again, and saw an elderly couple
leaving the restaurant.
She was bundled up in a fur collared coat, and had on a a very bright,
orange, yellow and white silk scarf to keep her hair in place.
He was wearing an old well loved baseball cap and red plaid wool jacket.
She saw them heading to a mini van.
He scurried in front of her to open her door.
But it wasn't the passenger side van door he unlocked and opened.
It was the driver side door of the old blue pick up truck
with the carpenter's union bumper sticker.
She slowly scooted into the seat behind the wheel,
he closed the door after making sure she had her seatbelt in hand,
then meandered around the truck to take his own place in the passenger seat.
As she looked at him, she realized that he was very old, nearing ninety at least.
His wife was probably at least ten years his junior, and did all of the driving now.

How sweet that he still opened her door.
She could only imagine the embarrassment and struggle it took
to finally succumb to giving away his privilege.

She breathed in, took the last sip of coffee,
paid the bill and drove to her own home.
The dog could be walked a short distance today,
even though the doctor had said two weeks.
It was so very sunny and the puppy had gained three pounds, as she had,
healing and lounging since the accident.
Three or four houses down and back would not hurt either of them.