HAPPY MOMENT AND THE HAPPIEST ISN'T PICTURED

This is a picture of  two young people who look to be so happy that it is impossible to imagine the reality behind the gloss.  We have all been given the psychological test of being shown a picture and creating a story according to the situation that we see frozen in the picture.  This is one of those pictures that could flunk a lot of people.  I can vouch for the happiness of them both at the moment of the picture.  I can vouch for the happiness of them both before the picture was taken and a little bit after, and later that evening.
I can also vouch for the happiness of the parents of the two young people shown.  As one half of the parental team of the man, I can vouch for our feelings leading up to the event seen here and for the feelings after it.  The lady's parents were also studies in happiness during the entire adventure.  This is one of those moments that never go forgotten.
It was the senior prom in high school.  Our son, though handsome, is not the ladies' man that his elder brother is.  The prom was approaching and there was not much interest on his side.  Although he likes a party, he was almost resigned to sit this one out.  Somehow, he and this girl got to talking and after a conversation or two,  she and he decided to have the night out together.  At the time, we, as a family were not going through the best of economic times, but as all families do, we were happy to add a little water to the soup to help these two young people have a good time.  This became all the more imperative when we found out that the girl's family was in a similar situation.  So, we got to getting ready for the big night.  We had a couple weeks or so to prepare.  Along the way, we were told by our son that the girl was not healthy and that she even had to use a walker or other such instrument to be able to get around.  As time went by, we also found out that this lovely young girl had some severe problems with her physical well-being.  Now, we all got engaged in this preparation.  We were also flying high in the aura of this display of virtue on the part of our son.  We did many things to make the whole experience a success for these two wonderful young people.  We met the girl a couple of times after the event and each time it was a wonderful experience.  She was articulate and gracious in every way.  She had dreams of education and had been accepted to some of the better local universities.  It was a powerful experience for both families, and for the two young ones too.
It was an experience that made them stay in touch and communicate with one another from time to time.  It took the inevitable to separate them.  Her health finally failed and medical science was not up to the task to prevent the complete failure.  I don't know how old she got to be.  I have even forgotten her name.  I have never lost track of the picture and I'll never forget the story.  Neither will my son.  We bring it up now and then.  It is a powerful story of kindness and gentleness.  I suppose that there are many stories of this kind in the world.  I wish we would experience more of them in our own lives.
Belle and I are grateful that our son taught us just how wonderful the grace of kindness can really feel.