Young Love

Old love or young love- both are wonderful! This ran January 13, 2006.

Cable TV doesn't abide in my apartment so I'm limited in options of news. I have access to five Houston network affiliates so I watch their local news broadcasts. A high percentage of what they call news, in my opinion, is not. Human interest pieces would be more accurate. Some of it, besides not being news, is also not interesting. Yesterday, however, I saw a wonderful short story. It centered on a man and his birthday. There was a celebration for him at a gym where he lifts weights six times per week. That is unremarkable. The amazing angle to the feature was the man's age- 102 YEARS OLD! The camera caught him doing a legitimate workout, not some token exercise with a 1/2 pound dumbbell. He and his family immigrated to the US from Iran thirty-one years ago. He still drives. When asked the secret of his longevity, his response was that he drinks no alcohol, eats no red meat, and has a diet heavy with fruits and vegetables. All those things are parts of a healthy lifestyle but there had to be more. There was; his wife of sixty-two years. The amazing thing was she didn't appear to be over sixty-five herself. In fact, she looked younger than their son who was also interviewed. It was neat watching the 102 year old man and his young bride showing affection even with the passage of more than six decades. There was no doubt this Middle Eastern, adopted American couple loved each other to the depths of their souls.

As I carried my groceries in last evening, I met a couple who lives in the next wing of our complex. They are Hispanic, in their twenties, and newlyweds, having tied the knot in November. They strolled to their car, arms locked around each other, giggling. Like the old couple, they are very much in love, and at least temporarily oblivious to the rest of the world. They trail the Iranian husband and wife team by sixty-two years in the marathon of marital relations but they are off to a sprinter's start. I'm no Dr. Phil but from a non-professional point of view, they are going to cross the finish line still arm in arm.

Emily DeWitt called this week out of the blue. When I get a seemingly random call, the assumption is that it's an emergency or good news. It was the latter. She has found THE ONE. Emily and Josh have set a wedding date for next November and honored me tremendously by asking if I would perform their ceremony. Lord willing, I will be standing on the stage with this young couple on their big day ten months from now. I don't know Josh but I do know Emily and that is all I need to know. She was in my first eighth grade Bible class when I moved to Houston in 1998 and it didn't take long to figure out she was special. An excellent student and a terrific cheerleader, Emily had standards and stuck by them. I keep her picture on my desk. She's in her junior high volleyball uniform and on the back, she thanks me for 'always being there for her.' It is signed Love, Emily. Of course, this was eighth grade and 'Love' was a heart and the 'i' in Emily was dotted with another heart. I thought of my current eighth grade female students today and wondered if I would get that phone call from one of them. It's hard to see- they are so young. Of course, so was Emily eight years ago. So was that Iranian couple eighty years ago.


Applicable quote of the day:
"Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age but they die young."
Arthur Wing Pinero

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com