E're day

http://www.etsy.com/listing/119482900/gold-foil-hustle-print

real love

the good and bad thing about the location of my coffee shop, is that you see so many stories, REAL stories acting out right in front of you.  

from the exhausted new dad dragging his feet behind him yet in his face you see that he is buzzed with excitement that his nine months of waiting to meet his new baby has finally paid off.  that  he now knows what everyone meant by "you never know real love until..." to the also exhausted hospital employee who has worked way too much for way too long and wants to make sure you know it.

ive see the good, the bad and the ugly.  

then you see this...

i have worked at the hospital for almost 9 years.  this touches me in a way that has only happened a handful of times.

i may be extra sensitive to this because of all the personal stuff I have going on as of late, but really- how do you not when you start to REALLY pay attention to what is going on.

this is a son and his Mom.

that is litterally as much as i know for fact about them.  but im a people watcher by nature and ive been able to pick up on other things going on here.  she is frail.  she is weak.  her husband holds her arm as they walk in to the hospital on a  regular basis. he feeds her 3 of her medications at noon and orders her a cup of ice water and an empty 4 oz sampler cup along with his 20oz drip coffee with room for cream.  he pours her 2 oz of coffee from his cup into that liittle cup for her.  then he grabs the cream and sugar and mixes them in that tiny cup in front of her so she can have it just the way she wants.  then helping her hold the cup up to drink.  i assume she is too weak to do much of this on her own because all the while, she just sits in the chair.  he touches her back and holds her hand.  they dont say much because when she talks, she coughs.  

in the last week, i have caught on that she has two sons.  very attractive young men who walk right in to the shop and over to her- give her a kiss and look her right in the eye as they just grab her hand and hold it.  they sit.  

this goes on for a couple hours.  they seem to own some kind of business and aren't from here because whatever is going on here is causing them to work on their laptops, or take phone calls at times while they sit.  but the focus shifts only momentarily.  when one of them leaves, the other one quietly scoots closer to her and then this.  just an arm around her frail body.  

i watched them for so long today.  

I was working alone and it was a quiet afternoon.  i wanted to ask what their story was but it really doesnt matter because they have eachother.  they are present.  they are all THERE for her.

I dont need to tell her that she has that but i want to know her- i want to be able to tell her boys (all three of them) that i am blown away by this real LOVE.  but its not my business.  

i am honestly lucky to observe what this kind of real love looks like.