As I sat there under the heat lamp, getting highlights put in my hair I had no choice but to witness the ineveidable signs of age. There in the chair next to me sat an old man. He was there with his daughter, who was much older than my parents, so I can only imagine how old this gentleman was. As they shuffled him slowly to cut his hair in the typical military hair cut “high and tight”, they shuffled him back sitting him slowly next to me. I pretended to be into conversation on my phone via text, in reality I was observing every inch of this miraculous human.
He sat quietly, unable to hear well obviously. His eyes looked sad, likely from seeing most everyone in his life pass before him and his hands shook in horrid trembles. He was aged, but not as you see people age today, this was age of a man who had worked hard his entire life. Obviously, not just because of the hair, but the stature of which he tried to sit, he’d been in the military and served our country so that people like me could have the comfort of ‘getting our hair done’ like it was the best thing to happen to us in weeks. It opened my eyes the more I looked the man, his hands were aged that of a man who worked hard with them his whole life, his cheeks soft with deep wrinkles and soft pale tint. The hands would stop shaking just long enough for me to see the blood veins bulging out and scars from years of work. His eyes were brown, deep and dark and when he looked at me, I knew I was busted. He caught me, staring at his age. I kept trying to look away, wondering what was going through his mind as he stared so silently out the window watching passing cars. I wondered what he thought of when all he could seem to hear was the blurred sound of voices speaking in the background.
He glanced down at my shoes, no doubt wondering what the hell the ‘kids were wearing these days’ me, sporting one of my favorite Ed Hardy’s, shiny black with 40’s tattoos style designs and huge fake diamonds as the bling instead of laces. His eyes lightened up as he smiled a little, looking back at my face I couldn’t help but smile too. In that second he looked young again, the sparkle in his eye, no dobut from entertainment of the fashion I was sporting and for one second it seemed like we were in the same mind frame. It wasn’t long after he giggled that his young, yet still very aged daughter seemingly irritated with his disposition pulled him from his seat and shuffled him to the car. I couldn’t help but stare even as they drove away. Here I sat hoping that in my old age, my daughter would care for me like that, or maybe I would get lucky and not live to need cared for.
As I paid for my highlights, it was pointed out to me that I had a flat tire. I couldn’t help but laugh, the only tires on my new car that i didn’t replace…. Of course they were flat. So as I sat giggling at my tire situation and the fact the only ride I had was my ex husband – or baby daddy to come rescue me I couldn’t help but be thankful for the chance meeting and shared smile between myself and the old man. I wanted to cry watching his movements until I saw his eyes looking directly into mine and I knew that even a flat tire wouldn’t be the worst of my worries. I just needed to put my faith in a better spot. So I did. I sit here back at work, smiling, my daughter watching a movie next to me here in the office while my poor father is out in the weather fixing my flat. I’m so lucky to have the people in my life that I have. The ones I hear from often, and the ones I never see. The ones that I’ll someday have to care for and the ones that will care for me. What a beautiful day. I hope you’re all warm in your lives with smiles on your hearts. Peace.
