To be Young Again

Ignatius paid the cabbie, tipping him generously, before opening the door and, with the help of his cane, managed to exit the cab. By the time he reached the sidewalk on the other side of the cab, the cabbie already removed Marium’s walker from the trunk and was helping her into it and by the time Ignatius reached Marium’s side, the cabbie was back in his vehicle and starting to drive off.

At a slow but steady pave, Ignatius and Marium made their way to a park bench sitting at the edge of a large open grassy area.

“Mind if we join you?” Ignatius asked a young woman sitting near the centre of the bench reading a book.

Looking up and seeing Marium and her walker, pushed her purse nearer to the far end of the bench and slid over far enough for Ignatius and Marium to sit saying, “Please, take a seat. It is fair walk to the next bench.”

“Oh,” Marium started to explain, “it’s not the distance to the next bench, it’s the importance of this one.”

“The importance?” asked the young woman, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Yes,” continued Marium, “it was sixty years ago today I was sitting here, just as you were, reading a book, when a young man came over and introduced himself.”

“You?, the young woman asked pointing at Ignatius.

“Yes, it was me.” Ignatius admitted, “It started when some of my friends and I were tossing a football around this field and some of the guys noticed how my attention kept drifting over to this bench. Well, boys being boys, some of them goaded me into coming over here and introducing myself….”

“Yes,” interrupted Marium, “and thank goodness they did, I had noticed him too, but in those days, a woman never made the first move, but I kept a secret watch on him.”

“Anyway,” Ignatius continued, “not only did I muster the courage to introduce myself, I even offered to buy her a soft drink.”

“Which I immediately accepted,” Marium acknowledged before concluding, “and the rest is history.”

“Cassie.” a male voice called from the field and, looking toward it’s source, Ignatius and Marium saw a young man, about the same age as the young woman they had been talking to, nearing the shared bench until he was close enough to talk in a normal volume of voice “Sorry to keep you waiting..”

“No problem,” Cassie said standing to kiss the young man, “I brought along a book to read, and was hearing a MOST romantic story from this couple here.”

“How impolite of me,” Ignatius said using his cane to help him stand, before offering a hand and adding, “Ignatius Jones, and this is my wife Marium.”

“Mathew.”, the young man offered shaking Ignatius’ hand.

“And I’m Cassie.” Ignatius and Marium were informed by the young woman.

“Nice to meet you both,” Marium responded, “but enough of the past, you two young people go enjoy this beautiful day, never know how many more like this you’ll get to enjoy.”

“Hopefully as many as you two have.” Cassie said smiling as she took Mathew’s hand before walking across the open field with him.

Ignatius and Marium watched the young couple walk off until they disappeared from view into a wooded area.