| The old woman sitting on the park bench raised her frail, bony hand into the air in front of her, exposing her strained tendons and dark blue veins visible through her wrinkled, poorly complexioned skin that was adorned with a large 2 carat diamond ring and shining gold watch. She had just thrown a crumbled piece of bread down to the cracked sidewalk below, where the pigeons selfishly compete for a chance to feast upon the next fallen crumb. I found myself thinking about the woman's long lost childhood, the fraility of human life, and suddenly I could see her raising her beautiful, slender hand into the air, reaching for her suitor's hand who was helping her out of his car on the way to the extravagant party where they would have their first kiss - never imagining that some 70 years later she would be the widow of a 67 year long marriage, hanging onto her youth by the memories represented with her diamond wedding ring. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask, so much I could learn from a woman who had experienced such a great amount in her life, but I finally decided to ask her if feeding the pigeons was the place where she could go to reminisce about all the wonderful things and places she must have seen in her life, perhaps in hopes of joining her for a moment. When she threw down another piece of bread and responded with simply, "They make me happy," I wasn't sure whether she meant the memories of her life, or the pigeons, or even some third, unconsidered option, but for some reason, when I walked away, I felt like I had already had a conversation with her that lasted an entire lifetime. |