A few weeks ago I walked into a local restaurant to have a quick brunch before I headed off to a meeting for work.

As I drew closer to the goodness of a compilation of various home-cooked items, such as gravy and biscuits, I noticed an elderly man standing behind me.

Now I am not sure how most of you readers were raised, but my folks taught me to respect my elders. So I did, I turned to the man with a smile and asked if he would like to jump in front of me. He almost seemed overcome with joy at this simple salutation.

So as we passed along that delicious food island, the old man and I began a short conversation. At first it was just simple small talk, followed by questions about myself and family, then he started revealing details about himself. This is when I really began to pay attention and asked if he’d care to join me at my table since we both seemed to be eating alone.

The man — let’s call him Bill because I cannot exactly remember his name but he sure looked like a Bill — was like most normal folks, a father, a grandfather, a husband and many other titles related to family. However, he told me that after a series of tragedies in his more recent years, he has lost nearly all of his family.

Bill became a little teary-eyed, one can assume over the loss of his family members, and then turned to me and asked if I had ever lost someone I loved. I told him sure, plenty of folks. He rephrased his question: “Have you ever lost someone you loved but never told them how much?”

I started to tear up a little as my memories started pouring back over me about former family members and friends I’ve lost over the years. “Yes,” I said, struggling to speak clearly.

We talked about the situations for a while and eventually I shook the man’s hand and thanked him for taking the time out of his day to have lunch with me. He just smiled and told me that in such little kindness as I had offered to him, he’d seen so many qualities of goodness that he hasn’t seen in such a long time without his wife, his daughters and his two grandkids.

Such a sad occurrence to happen, but I was thankful it did because now I’m going to try a little harder to make it known how much I love my family and friends. I cannot really imagine life without them, but I know that sooner or later even that will come to pass.

So for now, let’s hold up our glass to those who’ve gone before us, and those will go after us. Share your love. Make a difference.

Steven Ellis
Gainesville