A Single Moment

On my way to the pharmacy
Just grabing some eye drops
But a single moment,
A chance encounter
(Or was it really chance?)
Made all the difference in my day.

Walking into the store
A woman caught my eye
As she zipped along before me
In her power chair
With a bright orange flower
Hanging from the headrest.

I complimented her on the flower
And we began to chat
About the flower
And the friend who gave it to her

She told me how many times it fell off of her chair
How many times she put it back on
And the superglue she finally used
In a moment of desperation,
To keep the flower attached.

Now she looks at the flower,
Whenever she is sick
It used to make her smile
But now it makes her laugh
As she remembers the superglue.

We went inside the store together
I went on with my life
Waiting at the counter
Lost in thought

The woman passed by me again
Her eyes were red now
And I asked if she was okay.

She said she had a funeral
For a close friend later today
She dreaded going to it
The first funeral since her sister's death
But he was a close friend.


In that moment I remembered
The strong arms of my Dad's best friend
As we stood beside my father's casket
How he held me close
When I was so weak.

He told me how much my father loved me
How his face lit up when he talked about me.
Words I'll never forget
They were exactly what I needed to hear that day

And what I needed to hear today too.
As Father's Day approaches
Ads with fathers and daughters are everywhere
Each one bringing a stab of pain

But in the midst of the pain,
A single moment
A reminder of a hug from long ago
Makes all the difference.