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My wife and I enjoyed the vacation of a lifetime last year. We had often wanted to visit Scotland and Ireland, and were determined to do so by our 70th birthdays. And true to our intentions, we just managed to do so 'by a whisker.'
Our hotel in Glasgow,
Scotland stood on the banks of the Clyde River, (or River Clyde, as they are
prone to refer to it 'over there'). We were just fifty feet from a beautiful
bridge which spanned the river, a hundred yards from the convention center in
which the now world famous Susan Boyle was awarded second place in
"Britain's Got Talent," and an ancient overhead ship-building crane,
for which the wonderful city is known, was just seconds away from the front
door of the hotel.
On our second
day in Glasgow, I boarded an elevator to take me up to our room on the third
floor. And it so happened that a middle-aged, fairly non-descript man stepped
on the elevator with me. I must have greeted him with a, "How are
you." And recognizing my accent he said, "Are you an American?"
And I evidently responded in the affirmative. (I could not be sure, and I did
not ask, but based on the stranger's own peculiar accent, I surmised he was
probably a native of this country).
As the
elevator moved quickly towards my third floor destination, referring to the
Second World War, my short-term acquaintance mused,
"Ah, we
are so grateful for what your great country did for us; coming over here to
help us" (and) "those dear, dear American lads. How we love and
appreciate them even today."
And with this
the elevator reached its destination, the doors opened, I nodded, and stepped
off.
It was just a
momentary, circumstantial sort of thing, lasting all of thirty seconds, and yet
I will remember my brief interaction with this fine gentleman; as long as I
live, and move, and breathe on the earth.
by William McDonald, PhD
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