It Was Glorious

As Comer settled into the front seat, placing the cane tip inside the door, the fresh springtime breeze blew magic around the land. I had been planning to just drop Comer at the Alzheimer unit to visit with his wife, Evelyn and then I would bring him back to his assisted living home when he was done. But the sun and the seventy degree unnatural warmth all beckoned that youth could be recaptured on such a day as this.
"Should we take Evelyn to a park, a lovely park with a lake? " I asked Comer.
"We can ask her, " he answered,"She hasn't been out of that prison in months."
Evelyn sat perched on the same chair we had found her yesterday.  She again looked up with her radiant smile when she saw Comer.
"Would you like to go to a park, Mother? "
Comer called his dear wife 'mother' in recognition of one of the great joys of their life - parenthood.
Comer had not even finished saying the last word before Evelyn chirped,"Yes!"
"We'll find a park with a lake and watch the ducks! " I exclaimed.
"I like ducks," said Evelyn.
As we signed her out, I asked, "And we can stop and pick up pastries or something on the way to the park!  Do you like pastries? "
"I like pastries, " said Evelyn,  clutching my and Comer's hands.

As we drove, I pointed to the redbud trees that had just that day burst into pink profusion.
"Isn't it beautiful! " I cried.
"Beautiful! " echoed Evelyn, smiling.
We saw a bicyclist pedaling in the warm sun .
"I love bikeriding," I said, "Did you ever bikeride?" I asked Evelyn.
"No, I never did bike ride," she answered.
"Yes you did!" said Comer from the back seat.

We drew near the bakery.
"What would you like?" I asked. Evelyn's face grew worried as she struggled to remember what she liked.
"Cinnamon rolls? " I asked, "Do you like cinnamon rolls?"
"I like cinnamon rolls," she said smiling at me.
"Mother, are you sure? You just ate," said Comer.
"I like cinnamon rolls," said Evelyn.
"And what would you like to drink?" I asked.
Again she looked frightened.
"Coke? Do you like coke?"
"I like coke," she said.

I handed the goodies out to my friends and we started off to find the park with a lake and ducks. Suddenly I remembered a park that I had discovered long ago, and had not been to in years. It was tucked away behind a small neighborhood in a little village adjoining ours. As we drove we passed the huge mall in our area.
"Have you been there?" I asked.
"No, never," said Evelyn.
Comer chuckled from the back, "Only about a hundred times."

We pulled into the park, and a swinging bench, the only unoccupied seat on this glorious day was right beside the parking lot. I helped my old friends to the bench, settled them with their drinks and cinnamon rolls and parked the car.

A fountain spurted liquid diamonds in the middle of the lake. Children and dogs bustled and climbed and laughed all around us. The ducks were far off on the other side of the lake. I asked how Evelyn and Comer had met. It had been love at first sight. Evelyn remembered the dance where she had first seen her future husband . I asked about where they had lived, rasied their family. Evelyn mentioned a town name I had not heard of. Comer nodded and they talked about the little town near Atlanta. Comer recounted all the jobs he had held and Evelyn smiled, nodding as they reminisced. She ate her cinnamon roll happily.
"So many children!" she smiled, looking around.

After a couple of hours in the sun, the hard bench began to bite at their bottoms, and we shuffled slowly arm in arm back to the car. As we drove back to the Senior Center where they lived, we passed another bicyclist.
"I love bicycle riding," said Evelyn wistfully.

She cried when Comer said he had to go now, but he would be back soon. He helped her lie down on her bed and kissed her sweetly.
"You don't know how it kills me to leave her," he said to me as we drove to his assisted living apartment.

As I let him out of the car, he said, "This has been the best day we have had in months. It was glorious."
And it was. Such a simple day, with such simple pleasures. But the glory of God had shown down on us, I thought as I wiped away specks of cinnamon roll from my shirt.

Psalm 16:10-11

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
   nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.