The other day I read an interesting article about a wife who told her husband she was going to set him up on a date.
When I first read that line you can imagine how many things were running through my head – how many assumptions I was making about what kind of couple they were. I was wrong. It turns out she was setting her husband up on a date with his mother.
The story tells that the husband had made very little time for his mother over the years, and this was the only way she could think of to get him to spend more quality time with her. The mother of course was overjoyed by her daughter-in-laws matchmaking abilities.
She was so excited to spend this quality time with her son that she bragged to all her friends, picked out a beautiful outfit and made reservations for dinner at a favorite restaurant. When the night finally came, the two spent so much time talking, reminiscing and reconnecting with each other that they never did make the movie they planned on seeing, but it didn’t matter. Their time together was invaluable.
You know how many of these stories tend to conclude – a few weeks later, the mother quietly passed away. While a sad occurrence, her son (thanks to his clever wife) experienced a gift he probably didn’t realize he was missing until the night of his “date”.
We all use the excuse that our lives are far too busy to make time for family and friends. Because of this somewhat selfish behavior, we leave people sitting alone who still have so much life left to share.
Mother Teresa once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
The holidays are approaching – a time for family and friends to get together and celebrate life and love and laugh until tears fall from your eyes. To share memories from the past, and create new ones for the future.
But the holidays shouldn’t be the only time you carve out of your busy schedule to ease the loneliness far too many people face. Maybe it’s time you scheduled a “date” with someone who’d only be too happy to accept the invitation.
