Let's Find Them And Bring Them Back

---

This old gal…

Went for a walk…try to get her three miles in…headed to the quaint downtown full of shops…restaurants…fancy boutiques…

The place was bustling…the weather gorgeous…kids on holiday break…walked passed two young men doing a quick hug outside an eatery…

Saying their good-byes…doing the back pat thing…one heading one way…one heading the other, coincidentally falling right in step with walker me…

And stood fairly close…the pace the same…step step step step…passed a woman on her phone talking loudly…”It’s probably just old age,” she said…and walking me laughed…

Which caused the young man to turn…make eye contact…cuter than cute…about 20 years old or so and he started to chat, the conversation going something like this…

Him…Was she talking about me?…chuckle chuckle…
Me…She was talking about herself but it’s funny because my husband says that all the time…
Him…Are you from here?..
Me…No, I’m from Iowa. My husband was born around here so we come here for the winter…
Him…You picked a great place.

And that’s when walking me slowed down…said nice to meet you and ducked into the nearest shop because that’s when walking me suddenly panicked…

All that stuff on TV recently…juggers grabbing purses of innocent old ladies…girls disappearing in parks…

Like what was this kid going to do on this busy street in the middle of downtown after just having lunch with his bestie?…

Grab an old gal’s fanny pack and steal her pepper spray and chapstick?.. kidnap her and sell her already wrinkled and aging organs?..

Of course not…

And it makes an old gal sad…makes her long for the days where the fear of the ugly wasn’t always looming in the back of the mind…

Where a clean cut young kid could talk to an old lady just because he’s kind and it does nothing but make her smile…

Where have those days gone?..

For our kids and our grandkids and our grandkids’ kids…let’s find them…and bring them back…
​
And this husband of mine…agrees…