As I entered the garden
my eyes met
with an old man sitting on a concrete bench
under the Samaan tree.
'Sit for a while with me' he called out.
I walked towards him,
shifting my dress forward to sit.
'Do you ever take chances?' he asked.
I looked down at my hands clasping each-other.
Before I had the chance to respond
he told me about a lady he met while visiting his brother in Norway.
'From the moment our eyes met, I forgot how to breathe.'
At the time, he was engaged to a young nurse back home,
but always felt
that something was missing
until he met - her -
The sun peaking through the branches down at our shadows,
he pulls out his wallet from his grey trousers
and shows me photographs of their life together.
'I knew. I knew from that moment, she was the one I wanted to marry.'
'She's gorgeous....
but did you ever feel guilty having those feelings?'
With a soft chuckle and a silly grin on his face
making his deep laugh lines more prominent
he looks at me -
'Sweetheart' he said delicately. 'in life, we have many lovers - but only one soulmate. When their path aligns with yours, you will know & only then you would realize you can never be with anyone but them. You will do what you have to do, to have every day begin & end with them.'
I watched as his eyes teared up.
I dipped into my bag and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief my grandmother gave me
and handed it to him.
'Today would have been our 53rd Anniversary. I miss her everyday.
On evenings we would walk here just before sunset. She would sit where you are sitting and laugh for hours. Her laugh was one of the most beautiful sounds and she knew how it drove me wild. She knew, that every time she laughed I fell in love with her - over and over again.'
My words went silent as I slowly closed my eyes.
I then felt his fingers under my chin, gently lifting my face back up.
'Take chances, dear. Love as deeply and as wild as your soul knows how to and I promise you,
you will never regret one day.'