The Scarlet Mittens

A few years ago, as I was walking into a retail department, a little pair of scarlet mittens in the parking lot caught my eye. They were no ordinary mittens. They were ever so slowly reaching up and around the shoulders of an elderly gentlemen. The mittens held tightly behind the white-haired man's neck as he gently yet swiftly assisted someone from the passenger's seat to a wheelchair; someone so small as to be hidden from my view. "Awe," I thought to myself, "how precious!" As I came closer, it was more evident that these mittens surrounded the loving hands of his frail wife. I smiled to myself and continued on into the store. 

I then proceeded into the store, first making a stop at the ladies room. Moments later I heard someone enter. Next came the scuffling of feet and ordinary commotion amidst the other side of the stall door.  A singular conversation could be heard by an elderly gentlemen. What's this?  A man in the lady's room conversing to himself?  I then heard a faint response to his gentle interrogatives as someone responded in a feeble voice, answers only being understood by him. I suffered from a deplorable curiosity and I decided to stay in the stall until they would begin to exit. Could this have been the couple I admired in the parking lot?  I was secretly hoping it was.

Not to my surprise, I opened the door to see the smiling vibrant old man pushing a wheelchair which cradled the most petite old lady I have ever seen. I returned the smile and he freely began to speak to me proudly stating, "We've been married over 70 years....my wife is nearly deaf, can barely see, and no longer can walk. I still love her just the same."  I wanted to grab the old man and give him a hug, but refrained and just retorted a simple, "God bless you!" 

Nothing is by chance. God gave me a precious gift that day; living images of Christ's sacrament at work. It could not have been more obvious that this couple was walking in God's love, making a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness as can be found in Ephesians 5. I hope that someday too, my Knight and I will have led a virtuous life and having been subject one to another, in the fear of Christ.



Happy 18th Anniversary Mr. Knightly!