Dancing with Dan

I wrote this post a couple of months ago and have been meaning to publish it. This experience happened on one of those days where a lot of turmoil was happening in the world, and everyone was posting about it on facebook. On days like those, I find hope again for the world in people and moments like this:

Today I ran over to Target during lunch break to buy a bridal shower gift for my friend. And I had an experience that seems blog-worthy. The item I needed wasn't on the shelves, so I asked an employee for help, and he took a little item locator gun thingy from this other employee (Dan). He said they had some of the items in the back and that he would get it and told me and Dan to wait. Dan happened to be the cutest 83 year old man, and when I told him about my friend getting married, he told me about how he and his wife have been married for 61 years. He said when he met her, he knew right away that he would marry her. He also expressed that young people these days think marriage is good if it lasts for two years, and he doesn't know where they got that idea from! I told him he should tell them all, and he said, "anytime you want to bring someone here for me to tell them, I will." He told me that he and his wife Grace work at Target now as something to do together, and he asked me to go find her in the store and give her a hug for him.

Well, as soon as I got the item I needed, I went over to the women clothing section to find Grace. Over by the cute socks, I saw a short, small, white-haired lady and asked her if she was Dan's husband. She said she was, and I told her that he sent me to find her. I was a little unsure about the whole giving her a hug from her husband thing, but she broke the ice and gave me a hug and then told me with tears in her eyes, "that man is so special." I started getting a little teary-eyed too!!!!! Cute! They met in restaurant where he was eating with some other war buddies, and when she walked in, he asked her to dance. At first, she declined, walked over to the juke box and picked the song "Danny Boy" not even knowing his name was Dan. Eventually, she did agree to dance with him. She told me that the night she met him, she went home and told her roommate that she was going to marry him, and four months later they got married. Marriage is a miracle. Lasting marriage is an even greater miracle. <3 div="">