I Miss Her

Stood in line behind a man as we both waited for someone to get his lottery tickets.

Was a long wait.

The man in front of me was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

He wanted to chat. I was nervous about that.

“I don’t buy lottery tickets,” he said, “But I do like playing the slots. Do you?”

I laughed.

“Yeah, now and again. I work hard for my money though, I get anxious putting it in a machine to try and win it back.”

The old guy laughed at that. Then he opened his jacket to show me that he was wearing a tee-shirt that told me that he won a jackpot at the Hamburg race track.

“Ten grand,” he whispered.

“I won a similar amount years ago,” I said.

“Bet my story is better than yours,” he said. “I hit for ten grand and was waiting for the guy to pay me. My wife was seated right beside me.”

He stopped speaking and bowed his head.

“I get sad when I tell this story. I lost my wife just a few months ago.”

“Sorry to hear that,” I said.

“Elaine was 78. I’m 80. We were married for 53 years.”

The man at the front of the line was still spitting out numbers. I mentioned again that I was sorry.

“Miss her.”

The man waved me off, but there were tears in his eyes.

“While I was waiting to collect my ten grand, my wife won ten grand too!”

“That’s a great story!” I said.

“Man, our tax bill was high, but when I won she was happy for me, but when she won, man, she was really happy.”

“That’s a good weekend,” I said.

The lottery dude was finally done and the old guy stepped up in line.

I thought about his MAGA hat and what a shame it was that I hesitated when he first turned to talk to me.

His love for his wife was so alive, and I felt his pain. His glee in winning at slots.

All of it.

Just two Americans having a conversation, and as I left I wondered what he might say if we got around to having a conversation about politics.

“Maybe I’ll go play the slots today,” he said.

“Elaine will be there with you,” I said. “You’ll win today.”

“I wish she was REALLY with me,” he said. “Stupid virus.”

He paid for his purchases and turned and extended a hand.

“Thanks for listening to an old fool,” he said.

There was a lot to unpack in just a 5 minute exchange. 

Elaine had died of Covid. 

Had they believed in the vaccine?

I thought of him the rest of the day.

I hope he went to the track…

…and hit again.

Then I hope he ditches the hat.

The man behind that campaign is having bigly legal problems.

The old man I met, wearing that hat, seemed like a thoughtful, decent man.

It’s all confusing.