Today I cried for the loss of a man I never met.
There is a man I've known for a few years who has been a casual acquaintance up until we decided a couple of weeks ago that we would like to get to know each other better by dating. Well, he left me a message this morning, apologizing for having missed our date this weekend. He called from St. Louis where his Dad passed away yesterday.
I cried. I never met his father, but having lost my Mom to cancer 10 years ago, I know how hard that is.
I've never seen this side of my friend. He is always joking, having fun with life. Now I see that even in the midst of the difficulties he's going through now, he is also considerate enough to think to call me to apologize for missing our date. We hadn't even firmed up which day or what we were going to do yet. I cried for his pain and smiled for his thoughtfulness.