A Moment in the Sun

I wrote the core of this entry as a comment over at Sherri's Matter of Fact. I found a picture I had taken of the general location and decided to share -


On Sunday, I was walking alone on a particularly beautiful stretch of the Perkiomen trail - it has rock ledges, forests, and the Perkiomen Creek babbles and burbles on one side.

I had walked a considerable way - my legs were tired and my left knee was aching, but the sun was shining for the first time after several wet, cold, and gloomy days and the pleasant breeze was blowing drying air so I just had get outside and enjoy it.

I was walking up to one of the many memorial benches that line the trail and noticed an older, neatly dressed, white-haired man sitting on it eating some cookies he had brought along in a plastic sandwich bag.

As I pulled along side of him, I noticed he seemed a little sad and perhaps slightly forlorn so I smiled extra big and sunny and waved hello to him, and he responded with a "Beautiful day today isn't it?"

To which I replied, "Yes, indeed, they don't come much nicer - and you have picked a beautiful spot, one of the most beautiful ones along the trail." He smiled broadly and patted the bench with one hand, and said, "This is my bench."

Suddenly I realized what he meant. The bench has a memorial plaque that says "Mary, delightful companion, treasured mate, truly wonderful soul and daily missed. Love you always, Buck". I stopped and turned to him and said, "You must be 'Buck'." His face lit up and his eyes sparkled as he nodded affirmatively.

I reach over and shook his hand and said, "You don't know me, but I feel like I know you. I've walked past this bench hundreds of times and I have always admired the setting here in the curving bend of the creek with the deep woods on one side." I continued with, "I have also marveled at a woman named 'Mary', she must of been really special, and I'm sorry I never got to meet her. And likewise I have admired a man named 'Buck' that unabashedly speaks of his love for his wife of many years. I am pleased to meet you."

His eyes got a little shiny and he said, "Mary was a wonderful person and an even more wonderful wife. She was so full of life." He offered me a cookie and even though I didn't really want it, I took it and ate with him. Sharing time with someone is somehow greatly enhanced when you share food too.

He spoke of the times he and Mary had taken their bikes out onto the trail and shared God's work - the woods, the birds and animals, the seasons and the weathers, and when they got home they were revived and ready to face another day and another week.

I smiled to him as I made ready to leave and continue on with my walking. I shook his hand again and said, "Take care Buck. It was a pleasure meeting you and in a way, to meet Mary too." He grinned from ear to ear and I noticed as I walked away, my legs felt a new spring in them and that my achy knee didn't ache anymore.