finding humanity at the laundromat

i headed out to my laundromat this morning in a pretty grouchy mood. i hate doing laundry and having to do it with one hand was not an adventure i wanted to be apart of . i got all settled in at my store-o-washers-and-dryers reminiscent of the 1960's and started to people watch. there were 3 blond little girls dancing around the place with their ipods and belting out random songs ranging from Hannah Montana to Carrie Underwood to the copa cabana. their mom was doing what looked like 4 loads of laundry at once and years of worries and troubles showed very clearly in the deep wrinkles on her 30something face. it was obvious that this little family wasn't in the best of times. but still, the little girls fluttered around sharing the earpieces between the 3 of them, laughing and singing and playing without a care in the world. a little later an older couple came in and set up camp at a set of washers and dryers right next to mine. the man was amused by the little girls and struck up conversation with them, asking them about what they were listening to and asking if they knew music "from his generation". the girls thought that this was hilarious and an immediate friendship was formed. and so i sat, half reading my book, and half watching everyone else. i watched this man (i found out that he was 79) engage with his wife and my whole heart felt a little warmer on this 10 degree Midwestern January day. the two of them laughed and reminisced and played with the little girls and while the woman was sorting her colors from whites, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. i then looked over to the sisters who were still dancing to the beat of the tumbling dryers and sharing their headphones 3 ways and i felt so much love in that little place. sitting for 2 hours listening to the soft rattle of the 1981 Maytag dryers, breathing in the downy-scented air and feeling that perfect, genuine love was a nice break from the bitter cold.

"if you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling that love actually IS, all around."