Thursday, September 4, 2014

Day 247

Tonight I made a quick run to the grocery store for a few things I needed in order to finally can my tomatoes. Oh and beer. We needed that too.

As I was perusing the different choices of tomato juice, two men- one older and one younger- were having a heated yet quiet discussion nearby (around the pineapple juice section to be exact). The older of the two turned to me and smiled- "Hello", he politely said.

I returned his greeting, and he asked, "Do you have any children?" At this, the younger man rolled his eyes and put his head in his hands. 

I immediately sensed fun. "Yes,three" , I replied, waiting for the rest of the story. "Are any of them girls?"

I explained that I had a 21-year old step-daughter.

He went on to tell me that his son- the younger man who was now turning several shades of red- was going to ask a girl that he likes to the Homecoming dance tomorrow at school, and wanted to buy her flowers. Incidentally, the heated discussion I had overheard was a disagreement on what type of bouquet to woo her with.

I smiled and felt the romantic part of my heart skip a little beat. How absolutely adorable. What an honor to be part of such a sweet gesture, one that would take a lot of courage for a young man. And let's be honest- I never had a boy give me flowers when he asked me to a dance, did you?

I turned to the completely horrified teen and tried to be as matter-of-fact as possible, hoping to decrease his discomfort in the fact that his father just asked a complete stranger for love advice. 

"Definately not all roses- those are generic and honestly a bit over-the-top for this. Save those for a day or so after the dance if all goes really well. Don't do too many carnations either- they just aren't romantic enough. Look for a nice mixed bouquet that has some lilies and maybe a rose or two mixed in. That will be romantic but not overboard."

He blinked. "What do lilies look like?" I glanced at his father. 

He blinked.

"Come on, honey", I said as I lead him away from the pineapple juice.

I showed him a couple of options, and must say that I approved of his final choice. The young man shyly thanked me for helping, and as I looked at his dad he was smiling- not at me, but at his son. Rightfully so.

As I was standing in line to check out with my tomato juice and beer, the father-son duo were a few aisles over from me. As they walked away he looked over at me, smiled shyly again, and held up the bouquet. I gave him two thumbs up, and felt my heart skip a little beat again.

Tonight's picture celebrates good old-fashioned romance, and that it still lives on in young people today. Somewhere out there tomorrow, a very lucky girl is gonna get a lovely suprise. 


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