Love In The Parking Lot 💕…Story #1

Here’s the first of several stories that I wrote about love. Appropriate now as we approach Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

“Love can start a journey to the most amazing places” Katherine Stano, Hallmark 2026 Calendar, Feb

It was a moment in time, in the open for all to see.  I saw it, love in a parking lot.  Others may have missed it, not me. And, there was no mistaking what it was, love, pure and simple.

In an act of old-fashioned chivalry, a tall, sophisticated looking man tenderly draped his arm around the shoulders of his attractive companion, gently moving her closer to him. His comforting smile exuded confidence.  Her upward glance signaled approval, as though she, herself, had encouraged him.

They walked deliberately, amid a swarm of busy shoppers rushing to buy supplies before the pending late winter storm, too consumed with Mother Nature, perhaps, to see it. But I saw it, the wonderful and rare public display of affection, love in a parking lot.

People are hurrying and scurrying, so focused on where they’re going or where they’ve been, that they often miss where they are.  Not me.  I’m always looking. Life is full of wonderful moments, if we seize the opportunity to see them.  Too often, in our haste, we miss the ‘theatre’ around us.

I enjoy watching people. My wife calls it ‘staring’, I call it ‘observing’.  I see the remarkable and unremarkable, the pleasant and unpleasant, the ordinary and not so ordinary.  I multitask with my eyes and ears, not passing the time so singularly focused that I miss life’s sometimes ‘bigger moments’, like love in a parking lot.

As for the ‘lovers’, I was not surprised to learn they were married 45 years. And this one moment of him protecting her from the icy wind by drawing her closer to his warmth, affirmed to me their mutual and enduring love.

I hope more people saw it, too, their love for each other, on display in a parking lot, because in a brief but poignant moment between two people, two lovers, I was uplifted.  It made me smile.

From time to time, if you’re ‘observing’, you may be fortunate to witness true love, too, or some other special moment.  I’m always looking!

Steve (Feb 26)

Dedicated to those of us who are ‘always looking’ and for people in love, everywhere.

Thanks to Jennie Fitzkee for encouraging, urging me to republish an older post. I think she’ll be pleased.