Recently, while in Asheville North Carolina, we found ourselves eating dinner outside in the downtown area. It was a pleasant evening. After we were seated, a couple came on the outside patio and took the table across from us. A couple in the sunset years of their lives, he maneuvered his electronic wheel chair to the table. I watched unobtrusively. There was such a deep caring between them. He would reach for her hand and the look in their eyes between them clearly spoke volumes of their love and life together. So tender. I wondered about their life; how they made their mark, did they have children, all the things folks wonder, but don’t ask.
When their food arrived, she carefully fed him. He waited patiently for each bite. All I saw was love and gratitude. There was a natural air of care about them; the non-verbal communication was unmistakable. When they finished, they quietly left; rolling down the sidewalk, enjoying a night on the town.
One of my friends once said to me that “success” is fulfilling God’s intentions for us—-that as we find our path and connect it to God’s vision for us; then we have found success; whatever that looks like. He said that perhaps a spouse who loves the other partner through life’s difficulties is the truest measure of success.
I saw true success today.