True Love and How to Dance in the Rain

It was a very busy morning, around 8:30, when an old man that had to be in his 80’s arrived to have the stitches removed from his thumb.

He said he was in a hurry as he had to be somewhere at 9:00 am, so I took his vitals and had him take a seat, knowing it would be well over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

I could see him looking at his watch every few moments and decided that since I Was not busy with another patient, I would take a look his wound.

I called him over and looked at his thumb. It was healing well and there were no signs of infection, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the supplies to remove the sutures and redress his thumb.

While removing his stiches, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning, because he was in such a hurry.

The elderly man told me “no”, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I asked about her health and how she was.

He told me that she had been in the nursing home for a while and that she had Alzheimer’s Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was and that she had not recognized him for several years now.in

I was surprised, and asked him, ‘and you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?’

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, ‘She doesn’t know who I am, but I still know who she is.’

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, ‘that is 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 will not be.

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the best of everything they have.

‘Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but rather how to dance in the rain.’

We are all getting older and tomorrow may be our turn.