Recently I noticed a young man who walks with an elderly woman on my street daily.  I assumed he was the woman’s grandson or son and thought how sweet and thoughtful he was to do such a thing.  As long as it was not raining, I saw them, her with her cane and he with a bended ear toward her words, walking slowly up and down the street.  

 One day, however, he was not with her so I asked, “Where is your grandson today?” 

 She looked at me quizzically.  “Who?” 

 I spoke louder, “Your grandson.  The young man who walks with you every day, I notice he’s not with you.”  I said noticing a frightened look come across her worn gray eyes. 

 “I don’t know who you are talking about,” she stated and walked off.  I was confused.   It seemed odd she didn’t remember someone walks with her every day.   Maybe he was an angel and only I could see him!  Quickly ruling out that silly fantasy, I set my mind to find out who this mystery man was. 

 The next day I saw him, so I stopped to talk.  He told me he is not her grandson, or her son. In fact, he is not even related to the woman he walks every day.  The elderly woman has a daughter who is friends with the young gentleman’s mother.  The daughter asked her friend if the son, who lived in the same town as this elderly lady would check in on her and walk her each day.  I was stunned.   I couldn’t imagine ever taking time out of my day to walk someone who was not a relative, neighbor or affecting my life somehow.  Immediately, I thought the guy was either running a meth lab out of her house or writing down all of her stories to turn them into a number one selling novel.  But my musings aside, the guy still shows up day after day to be there with her. 

 Slowly it hits me, this is what love looks like.  Not the man loving the woman, but the daughter loving her mother enough to ask her friend a favor.  The friend loving the daughter enough to ask her son, who out of his love for his own mother decides to walk a woman daily who has no idea that he shows up day after day.  Love is a chain reaction that, in its truest form, must be shared.   Often the biggest declarations of love are done in secret while no one else is watching, except maybe a nosy neighbor.   

Post contributed by Laura Bryan. Laura is a mother, wife, dog owner and human being.  She loves God, the ocean and s’mores.  Being a mother has taught her nothing is perfect and why should it be? I believe that life is more fun when it’s messy and  that character comes with the interruptions.  

 P.S. Love is something that must be walked every day, not just on Valentine’s Day .