Paying it forward...

Dressed handsomely and possessing an amazingly charming air, he sat down next to us at the mahogany bar. I remember saying to myself that he was hubba hubba for an older guy - in the same genre of Michael Douglas and Kevin Costner perhaps. Being avid foodies and self-proclaimed wine-lovers, we had chosen to have a decadent dinner at one of the city's best restaurants during the infamous "Restaurant Week." It is not uncommon for us to willingly lay down a few bills for a nice dinner but we had not yet been able to afford this particularly special restaurant yet and decided to have a seat at the bar.

As we looked over the menu and sipped some bubbly, we discussed our dinner selections and listened, half-way mostly, to the sommelier and bartender converse with the sexy man at the end of the bar. He just had an air about him that commanded not just respect, but love and admiration. He shook the hands of the servers and managers alike....winked at the chefs in the kitchen. He hugged the women and told them about his sons, who were apparently regulars. I couldn't help but be intrigued about his life...what he must do, what he has experienced, how beautiful his wife and children must be...

And then, my own handsome man almost spit his sparkling wine out his nose as he watched the sommelier present a bottle of wine to the monsieur next to us. With effort, he turned to me and under his breath told me that the wine is a 1997 Baron de Rothschild Bordeaux, valuing at least $1500. We both smiled. After a minute of consideration, I turned back to the cutie next to me and said with a smirk, "so...here's the deal..." and then I smiled, he smiled back, knowing exactly where my train of thought was heading...and to which he replied, "o,k but what do I get out of it?" Jokingly, however, we both knew that such a bottle of wine indicated so many many beautiful things, including that the man was willing to spend more than our rent and bills on a bottle of wine. And instantly, we adored him too.

Somehow my charming man introduced himself to Scott. I don't remember the details of the beginning of our conversation with Scott, as I was awaiting the foie gras with a certain, how do you say, impatience, but I do know it included food, wine and a little banter about local restaurants. At some point, Scott offered us a taste of the infamous wine and we graciously accepted and toasted. I silently toasted to Scott...to his generosity and obvious ability to understand how to truly enjoy moment by moment. As he got up to step out, I whispered to my man, jokingly, " switch the decanters!" And as we chuckled, I said, "that man inspires me. He exudes such humbleness and love and yet, power and wisdom." And to that, my man says, "this is a defining moment for me. I may never have another opportunity to taste such a wine...they say most wine lovers remember "that one bottle" that changed everything. This is THAT bottle!"

It occurred to me that true success comes in a person's ability to relate to people - on all levels -and remain humble. I've always wondered what it was about those people who seem to have the admiration of everyone they meet - those people you like immediately but aren't sure why. Scott ended that mystery for me that night.

Scott showed us photos of his adorable children whom he now needed to meet with so they could build the Eiffel Tower out of Leggo's. He still had half a bottle left of the amazing wine and as he left, that lovely man told the bartender to pour it into our glasses so as not to make it difficult for the staff to decide who gets to drink it. Our jaws dropped. WOW! SUCH generosity...such love. We still had our "measly" $60 bottle left and although it was amazingly good as well, we both toasted again to Scott, and allowed the silky memorable wine float through us. Then to top it off, the famous head Chef of the restaurant came to us to ask if he could try our wine...another beautiful surprise. We swooned from all of the good fortune as we drank a cup of coffee and port and considered our chance encounter.

As the time came for us to go, we asked for our bill. I headed to the bathroom and when I returned, my man was speechless. He just handed me the bill. I didn't get it at first but after the shock wore off, I saw that our lovely dinner partner Scott had bought our dinner. As I write this, I have the same amount of disbelief, love, and awe....the same tears in my eyes. NEVER have I experienced such an expression of generosity.

And then my lover turns to me and says, "thanks to the woman at the register hours ago who generously handed you her gift card with 17 cents remaining!" An act that unconsciously led us to later pass off our parking sticker that had a remaining 45 minutes on it to the girl pulling into our parking spot. What a lovely example of paying it forward...and how LUCKY are we that we were the lucky recipients of the generosity of the sexy man at the end of the bar of my now-favorite restaurant.

Can life be more beautiful?