It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 a.m. when an elderly man in his 80’s arrived at the doctor’s office to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry because he had a 9:00 a.m. appointment. The nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before he could be seen by the doctor.
The nurse noticed him looking at his watch and decided, since she wasn’t busy with another patient, to evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so she spoke to the doctor, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress the wound.
While redressing his wound, they engaged in conversation. She asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning as the reason he was in a hurry. The man told her no, but needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. She inquired about her health. He told her that his wife had been there for a while, and that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s.
As they continued their conversation while tending to his needs, the nurse asked the man if his wife would be worried if he was late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was; she hadn’t recognized him for five years now. The nurse was surprised and asked her patient, “And you still go every morning even though she doesn’t know who you are?” He smiled and patted the nurse’s hand and said, “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.” The nurse could hardly hold back her tears as he left the clinic. “That’s the kind of love I want in my life!”
True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and cannot ever be again on this side of eternity. If we will learn to practice the principles of true love, then we could put the marriage counselors and divorce lawyers out of business.
…Borrowed