While at the grocery store last night at 11:30, I found my way to the frozen food section to retrieve a specific ice cream that my daughter had requested. I wasn't at the usual store since I was shopping after a concert, so it was late which meant there was no guarantee I could find what she was craving. A generic brand of ice-cream sandwiches was easy to find, but her blackberry chip was not. I looked up, down, over, under, and perused the frozen breakfast foods for a distraction, refocused, and still couldn't find what she wanted. What I did find was a man searching for the perfect ice-cream flavor and working just as hard as I was to please a family member. I saw his frustration and determination. I had passed by him several times already as I navigated my cart from one end of the aisle to the other, while he stayed in the general area of the designer ice-creams. He was on the phone with someone and spoke kindly and gently into the receiver. He was not speaking English, it was Chinese I believe, but my guess was he was saying some of the same things I had been texting my daughter. "Yes, I will be happy to get you the ice-cream. What brand is it? Will it be in a small container? OK? What flavor again?" I don't know if these were his words, but after several minutes of us both searching for the elusive flavors the person on the other end of the phone wanted, I watched while he began taking pictures of the ice-cream selections and sending them via his phone to the recipient. I thought it was endearing and sweet that someone else was searching for the right flavor to take home for their loved one and was so intent, that he was taking pictures to get the right one. I imagined a daughter at home, but he looked too young to have a child old enough to still be awake at 11 p.m. I pictured his mother at home recovering from surgery. But from the look of determination on his face, I decided he was getting the ice-cream for the love in his life. I pictured her at home bundled up on the couch with her pregnant belly covered in a hand made quilt from China. Her puffy hands from pregnancy resting on top of the baby to be. Or maybe she was just warming up the couch for a late night movie with him and he was making a stop before heading home to have a romantic ice-cream dessert and watch a love story on pay - per -view. Regardless of who lay home waiting for him, I found it charming that he was so intent on finding the right flavor, to please his lover, that he would concentrate so deeply that he never once noticed me standing there watching him. I finally found two flavors that were no where near blackberry chip, but would have to do for my daughter at home. One had berries in it, and one had chocolate chips in it . These would have to do in a pinch. When I left the frozen food aisle, he was still taking pictures, and searching the vast number of shelves for the right flavor . My hope was he found it and enjoyed the rest of his evening with the sweet woman at home. But as an afterthought, I considered that she might be the type to send him to all the open stores until he found the right ice-cream, or he would be sleeping on the couch that night. This made me reconsider the determination on his face. But to err on the side of being positive, I believe he found the perfect flavor and enjoyed a night of ice-cream and cuddling on the couch with his love under the home made quilt. It's good to know there is a man, or men out there, willing to spend the time to find the perfect ice-cream flavor for their partner at the partners request. Now if only I could find a man like him who would search for my favorite ice-cream flavor. And if I only knew what that favorite flavor was.....
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