and it looks like “happily ever after” for them has come to mean that they are reasonably content in each other’s presence. Other couples in that age bracket are still couples – that’s no small accomplishment, considering the number of couples-that-were who no longer are – and yet it appears that “happily ever after” for them has come to mean that they have learned to tolerate each other:they have learned to avoid talking about certain topics, in order to keep things on a quiet even keel.

        And then every once in a while, maybe at the wedding for one of their grandchildren or at the dinner-dance for someone’s retirement, you see a husband and wife who have been married for a long time, and you think, “Wow. They’re really in love.”

        This couple came through the door of McDonalds and it was obvious: they were really in love. Partly it was the laughter in their eyes. Partly it was the mischievous tone of their murmuring conversation. Partly it was the way they were holding hands.

        Sometimes you see people holding hands and it looks cute. Sometimes it looks kind of bland. But sometimes people hold hands and from fifteen feet away you can feel the electricity passing between them. As this couple walked over, hand in hand, to get in line behind me, I could feel that electricity moving between them. And it seemed like everyone else did, too. For a moment everyone stopped talking, everyone stopped eating, just to watch this couple as they walked across the lobby.

        The man was wearing a grayish beret, with a jaunty tilt to it: so I said, “Nice hat!”

        He grinned and said, with a southern accent thick as cornbread batter, “Why, thank you, sir!” And he turned to his wife and said, “See, Ruthie, it is a nice hat: the man said so.”

        She rolled her eyes and shook her head, and she looked at me with That Look. You know the one I mean, the half-fun half-serious look that says, “Oh my, please don’t encourage him.”