The Other Woman

I found this some time ago, and it brought tears to my eyes (which isn’t hard to do). Learn something!


After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. A little while ago I went out with another woman. It was really my wife’s idea. “I know that you love her,” my wife said one day, taking me by surprise. I protested, “But I love you too.” I know, but you also love her.” The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who had been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it where I was only able to visit her 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 just thought it would be pleasant to spend some time with you.” I responded. She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.” That Friday after work, I drove over to pick her up. 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. We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entrée, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile on her face. “It was I who used to have to read the menu to you 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 a nice conversation, nothing extraordinary just catching up on recent events of each other’s 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. 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. Sometime later I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place my mother and I had dined. An attached note said, “I paid for two plates, one for you and the other for your wife. I love you. You will never know what that night meant to me. At that moment I understood the importance of saying, in time to our loved ones, I LOVE YOU, and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family members. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off to “some other time.”