The Man in the Middle

I really hope you can see what's going on in the photo below. I took this photo last Thursday while out for my morning run on the river trails. This is three men out for a morning walk. But let me tell you, I don't know for sure, but I think it was more than just a morning walk.

I'm not good with ages, but if I had to guess, I would say these men are probably in their 70s. If you can't tell, the man in the middle is walking with a cane. They weren't walking at a brisk clip, but they were chit chatting and seemed to be enjoying themselves. When I ran past them (this pic was taken after I turned around and caught back up to them) I could tell that the middle man looked to be recovering from some type of medical issue. I don't know what it was, maybe a stroke, maybe cancer, maybe just the loss of a loved one. I don't know. But what I do know is that he has two good friends who got up at 6:00 a.m. with him and patiently walked along with him, encouraging him, talking to him, being his friend. Again, I absolutely don't know the situation, but what I do know is those other two men are...what true friends are...someone you can count on to carry you through the tough times in life.

I hope that if there's ever a time where I'm the man in the middle that I'll have those kind of loyal friends by my side.