Thursday-Saturday evening, I was focused on the Conference. My husband was nice enough to keep the boys (yes, all three) occupied so I could focus on learning, taking notes and networking.
There's nothing like being stuck in a hotel room with three kids under the age of 5 to make your apartment feel HUGE when you get home.
Anyway, my husband went to the mall with the boys, drove around downtown and locked himself in the hotel room with the boys. Once my conference was over, it was time for some "family time". We decided to head to the Minnesota Children's Museum and by luck, it was a Target free Sunday. Every third Sunday, Target pays for all admission fees to the Museum. What a deal!
We parked in the ramp and in the skywalk on the way there, we discovered a McDonalds! It was our cheapest meal while in Minneapolis! We grabbed some breakfast and sat down with the boys. Liam, our 5 year old who never met a stranger, greeted an older gentleman who was sitting at the next table. At first we thought he was a typical older guy, as the conversation started out about how all of his friends are dying...but we hung in there and learned so much.
He told us about how he was 82 years old and still swims a mile and a half a day. He told us about how he swam at the University of Minnesota in college. And he did diving as well. And he traveled in a show with a man who came to be Greg Louganis' coach. Liam told him he loved to swim and wanted to be a swimmer when he got older. The old man smiled and said, "Swimming and diving is a great sport."
The old man talked about swimming and diving. He talked about diving off of a board when the board was made of wood. He discussed how he wore WOOL suits when he competed. And then he came over to our table and pulled out pictures. A plethora of old, black and white pictures that were worn over time and years spent in his wallet. Young men, most gone now, wearing wool suits and smiling. The legs of the suits went to their knees. The large buttons keeping the suits up around the shoulders.
And then he talked about how most of his friends are gone. His friends he swam with in college. His friends he toured with in the diving show. All gone. I turned to him with a smile and said, "Tell you what. How about when Liam goes to the University of Minnesota and swims, you come to his meets?" He smiled, nodded his head and said, "That sounds great."
I never caught his name. He never said. I didn't think to ask. I was so interested in his stories. All weekend we were so caught up in our schedule and keeping on schedule. But some of the best time spent on the entire vacation was the time we didn't schedule.
When we took time to stop.
To listen.
To hear what the lonely man at the McDonald's in the skywalk had to say.
And I think he enjoyed having someone to talk to.
respecting the elders. love it.
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