Jan
21
2020
The Man Who Worked In The Dairy Aisle
Posted in Marriage 4 Comments
I knew him from the grocery store.
He was always so pleasant.
He was always easy to talk to, with a wide smile and a quick laugh.
I remember his ties.
He wore a button down shirt under his store apron.
He always wore colorful ties.
He had ties for different holidays.
He had ties for various occasions.
He worked in the dairy section of the grocery store.
He was such a hard worker.
He would bring numerous crates of milk from the back storeroom.
I often wondered how he pulled them by himself.
He was very tall and also very thin.
I knew he was married.
I knew he had children.
In fact, I remember seeing him at one of the concerts at our elementary school.
Those days, when all my children were little, we drank a lot of milk.
I would buy four gallons of milk at one time.
I often had to go back to the store for four or five more during the week.
We should have a cow, my husband would tease.
When I watched him restock the milk in the dairy case, he was always on his knees.
You’re always working hard, I told him one day.
You’re always on your knees, I added.
It’s good prayer time, he said with his wide smile.
I knew then and there that we had the Lord in common.
We had some wonderful conversations.
He loved the Lord and loved all the people he came in contact with each day.
After many years of seeing him each week, I started to go to another grocery store.
Later, when I passed by the store where he worked, I saw that it had closed.
It was bought by another company and then reopened under another name.
I often wondered where he worked when the store closed.
I had no way of knowing.
I visited a church in the area a few months ago.
I went by myself that first Sunday morning.
I sat towards the back of the church.
I recognized the man sitting in front of me.
I recognized his colorful tie.
I recognized his height.
He sat alone.
He had his well worn Bible in his lap.
After the service was over, I said hello to him.
I remembered his name.
He remembered me from all those years ago.
It was then I remembered that this was the church he spoke so about so often.
I asked where he had been working since the store closed.
He told me of another grocery store in Amish country.
I know it well.
It is where my daughter shops with our little granddaughter.
I asked about his wife and family.
He told me that his wife had been quite ill.
I work the night shift, he said, so I can come home and take care of my wife.
The devoted man on his knees, restocking the dairy section, was still a devoted man.
I could see the toll his wife’s illness had taken on him.
The next week, I saw his wife sitting by his side as I walked into church.
Her illness had taken a toll on her as well.
I realized that I was seeing faithfulness to a covenant promise lived out before my eyes.
I have been going to this sweet church for a few months now.
I continue to see him.
He came over to talk to my husband and I.
He reminisced about those days in the other store when our children were young.
We walked into church today and saw him.
He was coming out the doors looking at the ground; he looked up and saw me.
He stopped at the end of the sidewalk.
Are you OK? I asked, already knowing the answer.
He looked at me and then glanced at my husband.
He took a long, deep breath as if he was trying to muster up the courage to speak.
Well, now, let me compose myself, he said looking down.
I could see that he was visibly shaking, maybe from the cold, maybe something more.
My wife died on Friday, he said.
My heart hurt.
My arm immediately touched his arm, to try to console him in some small way.
He had been in the first church service; where else would he be?
I hugged him.
I noticed that my husband hugged him on the other side.
I wasn’t sure if we were hugging him or we were actually holding him up.
I came to be with my family, he said pointing back to the church.
I have been married for 43 years, he said.
I wondered if he was at the church that long as well.
He was doing what he always did on a Sunday morning.
This morning, his routine was quite different.
You’re shaking, I said, wondering if her even knew.
You knew, he said looking right in my eyes.
You knew something was wrong with me.
Looking at my husband, he said, Women always know; it’s their intuition.
There were no words.
There will be words, but not right now.
We need to see marriages that show the meaning of covenant.
In an age of me first, it is so wonderful to see an incarnation of love and sacrifice.
When Moses’ arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down.
(Exodus 17:12)
As we hugged him, there on the sidewalk, my husband and I were like Aaron and Hur to him.
He will need that kind of support now.
It is time for others to be on their knees.
Until the shaking stops.
Gina,
Thank you. As Jay and I just celebrated 50 years of marriage this touched my heart each day together is such a gift from the Lord.
Oh, Carol, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! What an example of a covenant marriage. Blessings to you both!
Gina
Thank you for entering into this man’s pain. That is one aspect of what Jesus did for us. It’s easy to avoid difficult conversations
Paula,
God just put us there at the right time.
I am so glad He did.
Gina