John was waiting for the girl whose heart he
knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. Thirteen
months ago, in a Florida library he took a book off the shelf and
found himself intrigued with the notes in the margin. The soft
handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.
In front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name,
Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address.
He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to
correspond.
During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each
other through the mail. A Romance was budding. John requested a
photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it
wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Later they scheduled their
first meeting—7:00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York.
"You’ll recognize me, ” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be
wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for
the girl with the red rose.
A young woman in a green suit was coming toward him, her figure
long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers. Almost
uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and just at this
moment he saw Hollis Maynell—a woman well past 40. The girl was
walking quickly away. He felt as though he split in two, so keen
was his desire to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for
the woman whose spirit had truly companioned him and upheld his
own.
He did not hesitate. He squared his shoulders and said, “I’m
John, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me;
may I take you to dinner?”
The woman smiled, “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she
answered, “but the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear
this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to
dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the
restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of
test!”
It’s not difficult to admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true
nature of a heart is seen in it’s response to the
unattractive.