Table For One

When I was young I experienced a moment that kind of captured "what I hope to be in the future". I was with my family in a nice restaurant and I saw this pretty lady at a corner table. She sat there eating her meal and enjoying a book. Throughout dinner I would glance over at her. Maybe someone else was meeting her there? No one ever came. She wasn't lonely, she was just her. And that was it.

      

I made up her life story and even as I got older I thought about it. Maybe now I think of that moment more as a reflection of who I'd like to be or what direction I'd like to go in my life. I'm sure at some point I imagined her as a social worker, a doctor, a writer. She changes a lot in my memory and I guess that's me changing over time.

    

It was probably just a casual, normal night for her. As simple as it was, even the feeling I got was simple, but that thought reminds me of where I want to be sometimes. Content. Comfortable. Confident. Intellectual. Successful.  I like to think she was kind and imaginative, flipping through the pages and thanking the waiter for refilling her drink. It's silly but I smile when I think about it. 

I can't say that I'm all of those things yet, but everyday I get closer to saying, "table for one, please".