Growing old with a stranger
I went on a 72 hours excursion with a friend of mine, my first trip away from the kids in 14 years (besides the lake). We flew to Vegas, spent a day at the Grand Canyon and the next day, poolside with drinks in hand until our midnight flight home. It was a whirlwind adventure to say the least.
We made a new friend on the bus to the canyon, hung out, took photos and exchanged number. He was there for a wedding and decided to spend 2 days before, exploring and relaxing. Incredibly nice guy, Kindergarten teacher turned fire fighters, you can get more caring than that!!
Poolside we met even more teachers, they, however weren't as interested in becoming our friends, no matter how hard we tried. These two young girls were there for their own agenda of relaxing and hanging out, friends since the 4th grade, they just wanted to enjoy each other's company, not entertain two 40 something bored ladies. It's ok, my companion would find others to befriend.
And she did....
A 70 year old handsome gentleman approached my friend and I in the pool, said how glad he was that we decided to celebrate his birthday with him, funny, didn't realize we were. We talked to him for a few minutes, he introduced himself as Larry and said what pretty "teeth smiles" we had, we said goodbye, made our way back to our chairs and crashed for a bit.
My companion and I separated at one point and I found her outside of the pool area (adult only pool so you had to leave via the only secured entrance) chatting away with a now street clothed Larry, inviting him to dinner with us. This definitely caused me to pause, why did she feel comfortable enough to invite a stranger to break bread?
A few moments later, I totally understood, this was a good soul we were talking to, a very familiar soul. He declined, was there for the world series poker tournament and had to get to the game. Too bad, he was very comforting and very funny. At some point, they exchanged numbers, not sure how I missed that but I did have alcohol in me. We left, walking to find food, not knowing what we were hungry for, (just nothing fried or greasy, had enough bad food the day before to last a lifetime) We found ourselves at a white table cloth steak and seafood restaurant, backpacks on, donned in swimsuits and starving. It's Vegas, they'll feed you no matter your attire, even though I felt very uncomfortable, I wasn't worried about anything but getting food in my belly! Suddenly, the phone is out and my companion is texting our 70 year old friend. She tells him where we are and says we will come see him before we leave. That's fine, he was in a public place and we still had a few hours to kill. We ate (best Mac and cheese in the world), then took off for our 20 mins walk down the strip to find Larry.
We found him, or rather, he found us. We heard someone calling my name, turned around and there he is playing poker and gesturing for us to hold on. By this point, headaches were starting to set in, too much sun, too little water and both of us totally sleep deprived from our adventure. We took off to use the restroom, change clothes and find advil and water. By the time we arrived back, Larry had decided his best bet was to cash in his chips and hang with us for the next few hours. Interesting....this man seemed to gravitate towards me, even more interesting, he was an older P, his looks, his mannerisms, the way he looked at me. Comforting and creepy all at once, I was hanging out with someone who died 2 years ago and he was 20 years older.
We decided to take a long walk back down the strip to get our bags and head out. Now, mind you, my travel companion is a shopper so the walk that would have taken me 20 mins took us 2 hours of stopping at different stores along the way....it was fine, I enjoyed window shopping every now and again. Larry walked along side us, telling us his story of life, marriage and children. He had seen his ups and downs, heartbreak and joys and reminded us that it's life we are here to live, so to live it happily.
He took a liking to me, said my energy was drawing him in. He went on to tell me he wasn't sure why but felt he wanted to give me some fatherly advice. So, while she was in a store, we stayed back and he told me not to give up. He said that life is so worth waiting for and that he knew my time was about to come, I just needed to be patient. He said this without knowing anything I've been through, not knowing my heartache and pain. He said it with a deep genuine heart, a stranger so familiar. He said he didn't know why we had met, perhaps it was to show me how little moments can make such a huge impact. He said things to me that have been showing themselves over the past year and a half, a complete stranger telling me that my time is about to come, to just wait and be patient and to never give up.
I spent the evening with a stranger who knew me and oddly, I knew him. He helped closed a chapter that I needed closed, I spent a few hours with Larry and grew old with Perry.
We made a new friend on the bus to the canyon, hung out, took photos and exchanged number. He was there for a wedding and decided to spend 2 days before, exploring and relaxing. Incredibly nice guy, Kindergarten teacher turned fire fighters, you can get more caring than that!!
Poolside we met even more teachers, they, however weren't as interested in becoming our friends, no matter how hard we tried. These two young girls were there for their own agenda of relaxing and hanging out, friends since the 4th grade, they just wanted to enjoy each other's company, not entertain two 40 something bored ladies. It's ok, my companion would find others to befriend.
And she did....
A 70 year old handsome gentleman approached my friend and I in the pool, said how glad he was that we decided to celebrate his birthday with him, funny, didn't realize we were. We talked to him for a few minutes, he introduced himself as Larry and said what pretty "teeth smiles" we had, we said goodbye, made our way back to our chairs and crashed for a bit.
My companion and I separated at one point and I found her outside of the pool area (adult only pool so you had to leave via the only secured entrance) chatting away with a now street clothed Larry, inviting him to dinner with us. This definitely caused me to pause, why did she feel comfortable enough to invite a stranger to break bread?
A few moments later, I totally understood, this was a good soul we were talking to, a very familiar soul. He declined, was there for the world series poker tournament and had to get to the game. Too bad, he was very comforting and very funny. At some point, they exchanged numbers, not sure how I missed that but I did have alcohol in me. We left, walking to find food, not knowing what we were hungry for, (just nothing fried or greasy, had enough bad food the day before to last a lifetime) We found ourselves at a white table cloth steak and seafood restaurant, backpacks on, donned in swimsuits and starving. It's Vegas, they'll feed you no matter your attire, even though I felt very uncomfortable, I wasn't worried about anything but getting food in my belly! Suddenly, the phone is out and my companion is texting our 70 year old friend. She tells him where we are and says we will come see him before we leave. That's fine, he was in a public place and we still had a few hours to kill. We ate (best Mac and cheese in the world), then took off for our 20 mins walk down the strip to find Larry.
We found him, or rather, he found us. We heard someone calling my name, turned around and there he is playing poker and gesturing for us to hold on. By this point, headaches were starting to set in, too much sun, too little water and both of us totally sleep deprived from our adventure. We took off to use the restroom, change clothes and find advil and water. By the time we arrived back, Larry had decided his best bet was to cash in his chips and hang with us for the next few hours. Interesting....this man seemed to gravitate towards me, even more interesting, he was an older P, his looks, his mannerisms, the way he looked at me. Comforting and creepy all at once, I was hanging out with someone who died 2 years ago and he was 20 years older.
We decided to take a long walk back down the strip to get our bags and head out. Now, mind you, my travel companion is a shopper so the walk that would have taken me 20 mins took us 2 hours of stopping at different stores along the way....it was fine, I enjoyed window shopping every now and again. Larry walked along side us, telling us his story of life, marriage and children. He had seen his ups and downs, heartbreak and joys and reminded us that it's life we are here to live, so to live it happily.
He took a liking to me, said my energy was drawing him in. He went on to tell me he wasn't sure why but felt he wanted to give me some fatherly advice. So, while she was in a store, we stayed back and he told me not to give up. He said that life is so worth waiting for and that he knew my time was about to come, I just needed to be patient. He said this without knowing anything I've been through, not knowing my heartache and pain. He said it with a deep genuine heart, a stranger so familiar. He said he didn't know why we had met, perhaps it was to show me how little moments can make such a huge impact. He said things to me that have been showing themselves over the past year and a half, a complete stranger telling me that my time is about to come, to just wait and be patient and to never give up.
I spent the evening with a stranger who knew me and oddly, I knew him. He helped closed a chapter that I needed closed, I spent a few hours with Larry and grew old with Perry.
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