Love at any age

I forgot to write something yesterday--about a man who came in the shop.
He was the first one in, a pleasant older man. Rather good looking and fit(and tanned) in a grey-haired, Paul Newman kind of way ,dressed casually in a sweatshirt and with a bounce in his step. I only glanced at him at first and we said "Good Morning" to each other and he went off to look at the cards.

When he came up to the counter to pay for his cards (I noticed at least two Valentine's cards in his little pile), he smiled broadly and told me "I came all the way from West Hartford to get these cards!".

"Really?", I said. Because that would be somewhat of a drive just to buy some greeting cards.

"Nah, not really, but I just got in from Florida and left Connecticut this morning."

Then he proceeded to tell me how wonderful it was in Fort Meyers and he and his "girl" were able to extend it to another week and then they drove home together ("My kids were telling me- 'Poppy, you shouldn't drive all that way', but we did it!") and arrived at her house in West Hartford last night. He seemed so giddy and truly happy telling me this and you could tell this man was in love.

In his exact words,

"It's fun to be 71 years old and acting like a teenager."

Which made me think that for some, Valentine's Day is a good thing, while of course, for others it is an annoying, commercially driven holiday (please, if I have to see that sappy commercial about the jewelery box one more time...ggrrr...), especially if one is NOT in love. Also, I thought, this man was lucky to be healthy and vibrant, while others are not so lucky at even a younger age with money and health problems. Still, I was happy for this man and his later years romance. His happiness was infectious and made me happy for the rest of the workday. The pecan pie bars someone brought in from the best bakery in town helped continue the buoyant mood, I might add.