The Old Man

Things are okay in the end... if things aren’t okay—it’s not the end. Right now, things weren’t okay. 1

The old man stood uneasily at the curb before the traffic. He didn’t know which direction to turn in. He decided he had two choices—the first being to turn and go back up the same street he’d walked for the past three months since his wife had died, and the second was to cross the street in a matter of quick steps before the traffic lights changed color. 2

Unable to make a decision, the old man, dressed in his best suit, sat down near the corner store door. A moment later, the door opened and a young man came out into the summer heat dressed in the fashion that all the kids his age were wearing. The old man gazed ahead at the traffic that was quickly going by, only taking notice that the person before him seemed to be more a moody teenage boy than mature, young man. 3

The boy looked at the old man and almost burst out in laughter. He never seemed to notice the old man’s nice blue suit, or the fact that the old man didn’t look poor at all. 4

"Hey, old man, this ain’t a place to be asking for nickels and dimes. Why don’t ya cross the street and beg at that corner?" 5

The old man stared up at the boy. He himself had once been as wise, insecure, and immature as the boy was now. Realizing so, he stood. Just then, at that very moment, a girl came out of the corner store door carrying a tiny baby in her arms. The girl did not look to be more than a child herself, and, like her, the old man noticed, that he, too, had his share of troubles and his share of people to care for. 6

...7

The girl watched as the old man took an unsure step forward. The child in her arms cried out for attention. The girl walked the few steps over to the moody teenage father.8

"Take her for a sec, will you?" she asked.9

The boy reached for the child and held the tiny creature close to his body in a loving manner.10

"What’re you going to do?" he wondered.11

The girl, ignoring the question, gazed at the old man as he fidgeted nervously while gazing across the street longingly with a single tear in his eye. 12

"No, come on... we’ve gotta get home and change this kid’s diaper." The boy objected firmly as the girl continued to watch as the old man took another unsure step.13

The girl brushed back her dark, long, straight hair and was about to move when the boy, her baby’s father, grasped her by the wrist.14

"Don’t bother. He’s old." The young father said matter-of-fact as if he knew something about the old man that the girl did not.15

The girl pulled her arm away, looked her baby’s father square in the eye, and said: "Just because he’s old doesn’t mean it gives you the right to make fun of him." 16

"So what?" the boy shrugged carelessly. "He made it this far on his own, and I think he can cross the street on his own, too."17

The girl looked to the old man, and back again to her baby’s teenage father. 18

"Are you afraid of him?" she wondered, making the simple question out harder than it had to be.19

"No! the boy answered too quickly.20

With a smile, the girl nodded knowingly because she knew differently. With this knowledge, she went over to the old man.21

"Sir, would you like some help?"22

...23

The old man held onto the teen mother’s arm with gratefulness as he walked slowly across the street with her help. 24

Once they had crossed the street, the girl turned to cross back, but instead of running off as fast as she could, she cast the old man a friendly, apologetic smile and waited a second.25

The old man understood.26

"Thank you," he told her in a genuinely grateful tone.27

The girl shook her head and crossed back to the other side of the street where her baby and the father of her baby were waiting. 28

The old man noticed the scowl on the boy’s face as the girl took the baby from his arms. The old man smiled as he realized that not everyone feared those, or feared to help those, who they knew not a single thing about. However, there was something else... 29

He then remembered that he himself had once been like the boy. Now, he wished that he could have grown old being as fearless as that teenage girl, that teenage mother, was. 30

The old man turned away from the previous corner that he had come from and gazed curiously down the new street that led to a new destination. 31

He smiled as he thought about what he just accomplished. He had finally done it. He had finally crossed the street. 32

Lifting a foot, which had once been heavy with misunderstanding and was now light with his newfound understanding, the old man took a sure step forward to continue with the walk he had been trying to finish for the past three months since his wife had died at that very corner that was now behind him. 33

Things are okay in the end... if things aren’t okay—it’s not the end. 34

However, things were going to be okay, the old man knew, because the street was now behind him.35