Heartbreaker

I arrived in the Tampa Bay Airport exhausted but warm.

As I came out of the arrival gate I saw a fit late fifties woman sitting, dressed to her causal best with a single rose in her hand. She teetered on the edge of hope and disappointment, on the verge of tears. She caught my attention because her eyes flashed at me with a hope of recognition. Then she turned inward and put on her best 'stay positive' smile while her eyes watered a little. She blinked pulling them back, holding on to years of fading beauty and that fragile hope that it would pull her through one last time. She was alone with her hopes and fears battling inside.

Whoever she was waiting for was inconsequential, this crumbling was inevitable. Eventually the reliance on our greatest strengths forces them under, to buckle, to their knees. Alone, humbled, looking for answers, confronted with the end of strength and the beginning of weakness. Our reliance is the shackle, unbuckle it, let it rest in it's watery grave, in truth, it was only a crutch in disguise.

Her vulnerability was so impressive. She revealed this silent emotional struggle in a way where she almost glowed. I watched as hope's shield held against a powerful disappointment. I fight this fight myself. It's good to see I have at least 20 or so more years of fight left in me.

I got this song stuck in my head ever since.


Today's Song of the Day is "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by released in 1959 by The Platters.

Crazy Fact: This was written in 1933 for the musical Roberta, starring Bob Hope. The lyrics were written by Otto Harbach and the music by Jerome Kern.

njoy