A date with MUM

> After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way
> of
> keeping alive the
> spark of love. A little while ago I had to go out
> with
> another woman. It
> was really my wife's idea. "I know that you love
> her,"
> she said one day,
> taking me by surprise. "But I love YOU," I
> protested.
> "I know, but you
> also love her"
>
> The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was
> my
> mother, who has been
> a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and
> my three children had
> made it possible to visit her only occasionally.
> That
> night I called to
> invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.
>
> "What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother
> is
> the type of woman who
> suspects that a late night call or a surprise
> invitation is a sign of bad
> news.
>
> "I thought that it would be nice to pass some time
> with you," responded.
> "Just the two of us."
>
> She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I
> would like that very
> much."
>
> That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her
> up, I was a bit
> nervous.
>
> When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she,
> too,
> seemed to be nervous
> about our date. She waited in the door with her coat
> on. She had curled her
> hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to
> celebrate her last
> wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was
> as radiant as an
> angel's.
>
> "I told my friends that I was going to go out with
> my
> son, and they were
> impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They
> can't wait to hear
> about our meeting."
>
> We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant,
> was very nice and cozy.
> My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.
> After we sat down, I
> had to read the menu.
>
> Her eyes could only read large print. Half way
> through
> the entrees, I
> lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at
> me. A nostalgic smile
> was on her lips.
>
> "It was I who used to have to read the menu when you
> were small," she said.
> "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the
> favor," I responded.
>
> During the dinner we had an agreeable conversation-
> nothing
> extraordinary-but catching up on recent events of
> each
> others life. We
> talked so much that we missed the movie.
>
> As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go
> out with you again,
> but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.
>
> "How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got
> home. "Very nice. Much
> more so than I could have imagined," I answered.
>
> A few days later my mother died of a massive heart
> attack. It happened so
> suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything
> for her.
>
> Some time later I received an envelope with a copy
> of
> a restaurant receipt
> from the same place mother and I had dined. An
> attached note said: "I paid
> this bill in advance. I was almost sure that I
> couldn't be there but,
> nevertheless, I paid for two plates, one for you and
> the other for your
> wife. You will never know what that night meant for
> me. I love you."
>
> At that moment I understood the importance of
> saying,
> in time: "I LOVE YOU"
> and to give our loved ones the time that they
> deserve.