Happy

I was at the grocery store earlier today.  I'm there basically every other day.  My kids drink milk like crazy and I constantly have to restock.  I grabbed a couple of other things, too, like fruit and chicken nuggets.

Seems that many people had the same idea of going shopping as well.  I went to the self checkout, and the line was very long.  It was moving though, so I just waited patiently until it was my turn.  There were five stations but only one line.  Once someone finishes, you get to go to the empty one.

When I was the next one to go, I saw a familiar face walking by towards the exit.  He was looking around inside while he passed.  I waved at him.  He didn't see me at first, but I kept waving.  And then he noticed me, and he smiled.  He looked pleasantly surprised. 

It was my turn to go though, so I moved towards the self checkout.  He was by the exit door, and he kept moving.  I hoped he would return inside and chat, but he didn't.  After I finished paying, I hoped he would have waited for me, but he didn't.  When I got out to the parking lot, I looked around for him but didn't see him.  I even drove around a bit, but I couldn't spot him.

Still, I was happy to see him.  I actually thought he had died years ago.  There was a point in time when he went missing and his relatives put up posters looking for information.  I just assumed after that that he was gone.  I thought about asking about him, but I didn't want to intrude, I guess.  I think too much, I guess.  Maybe I should have just done so.

Maybe it was meant to be that I saw him.  I actually stopped by the liquor store first before going to get the groceries.  If I hadn't, maybe the line wouldn't have been long, and I maybe I would have missed him altogether.  

But wait.  Actually, not that I think about it, maybe I could have bumped into him before leaving.  Perhaps he wouldn't have finished ahead of me.  Hm.  Now I don't know.

But maybe I was just meant to know that he was all right.  But hm.  Still thinking.  What if... was he actually there?  What did I actually see?  Why was he looking back when he was walking out already?  He didn't seem to see what it was that he was searching for.  And then he just smiled at me and walked away.

You know, I actually met him in church.  I used to go everyday when I was in high school.  They actually had morning mass, and I would go before going to school.  He worked there, and I helped him mop up the altar once and paint some handrails outside.

He was an odd guy anyways.  But I mean, if you hadn't seen someone for years, wouldn't you stop and say hello?  And we got along very well actually.  But maybe I should have just left the line and put my cart aside and went after him.  What would I have seen?  Was he actually there?  Why didn't he come back to me?  Why didn't he wait for me?  Anyway, for that brief moment, I was just glad to know that he was okay.