Just a little love note ... Opinions please

The subject of the exercise is "A little love note"

I went to Stuttgart airport yesterday to pick up some friends who had just come back from scuba diving in the Red Sea. I was sitting in the arrivals lounge of the airport with the usual hustle and bustle of German, and a few Greek tourists.

There was a family waiting in the next aisle to me, and they were all happy and smiling, apart from a young boy who was about eleven or twelve years old. It seemed like this young man had the weight of the world on his shoulders. I don’t speak German, but I understand some, and with the tone his father was giving him, it was obviously something like, "Calm down, they will be here in a minute"

Every time the doors opened, the little man would stop his pacing (genuine, furrow-in-the-floor-type pacing) and look expectantly at the arriving passengers. Then the disappointment would be devastating for him. Then it was back to the pacing.

The family he had obviously been waiting for, finally, arrived and he made a rush for a young girl of about fourteen and he hugged her. He was oblivious to the smiles and hugs of the people going on around him. It seemed like he would never let her go. He continued to hug her and she hugged him with equal intensity. They had their faces screwed up in relief of seeing each other.

Eventually the embrace ended and they held hands until forced to part by his aunt-type elder family member. But they continued to gaze into each others eyes. He was given a big sloppy kiss by the Matriarch, and she was hugged and kissed by the boy’s family.

But I was just sitting there watching this scene with amazement. The girl could be his cousin, his sister, anything in relation to her, but I don’t think she was his girlfriend (it was a family thing, for sure).

I just thought that, this young man will go far in the future with any relationship, as he is not afraid to display affection. He had no concept of time or space around him, just the closeness and contact of the young girl.

I am a cynic, (should have been a newspaper man), but I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye when they left. It will stay with me some time.

Unrequited love ... you can’t beat it.

Thanks

Duncan