The Embrace

I arrived at the train station in Philadelphia both excited and a little bit tired after two presentations for Land America, the title company. I was headed to New York for the RIS Media conference. I had several pieces of luggage and required assistance onto the train from a porter. I sat on a nearby bench as I waited for his signal to walk toward the train. I looked around and took a quick scan at around the large hall. It was all but impossible not to notice a middle aged couple not too far away engaged in a long, passionate embrace. They caught my eye and held my attention, a little bit longer than appropriate. To my embarrassment, the Porter observed me fixed for so long on the scene and said “Stop looking, they should really just get a room.” But I could not stop looking. It was something about their embrace. It was something about their attire that made me imagine them as a couple from one of those movies with Mickey Rooney made years ago in black and white, like they were captured in time. Perhaps it was something about their age, their stance, and his disheveled hair. I was entranced.

The Porter let me know that it was time to go. He took my luggage onto a cart and said “follow me”. I did. He proceeded to walk toward the couple and made a stop to help the man. I noticed he was holding a stick. He was blind. The Porter took the man’s hand and fixed it firmly to his arm leading the way.

As we stepped into an elevator, the Porter informed me that the man had just gotten engaged that day. The gentleman spoke up and said “That explains all the kissing.” I broke into a smile.

I said, “Congratulations! When’s the wedding?”

“January 19th,” he replied.

Calculating a quick 4 ½ month engagement period, I said “Boy, you don’t waste any time.”

He said “Well, we’re both widows, we really don’t have any reason to wait.”

And in that moment I realized that there is almost never a reason to wait. It’s just something that we are used to doing. We are practiced at waiting for something to happen, for the time to be perfect, or the tide to swing our way. We just sit and wait and keep living our lives the same way as always, hoping that someday something wonderful will happen.

Waiting. Waiting.

What a costly use of time. Are you still waiting? What are you waiting for?