Gwyneth and Brad teach me a lesson in gratitude on Valentine's Day
Posted by Unknown in #vday, brad pitt, celebrities on Valentine's Day, gratitude, gwyneth paltrow, humility, valentine, valentines day
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| Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow taught me a life lesson on Valentine's Day. |
Once upon a time, about 10 years ago, when I was a lot snottier than I am now, my then boyfriend, drove up from San Diego to meet me on a weeknight for Valentine's Day in Santa Monica. He was three hours late, dressed badly, and didn't even book a reservation in a restaurant.
So here we are, it's 9 pm already, I'm grouchy and starving, my blood sugar has bottomed out so low that I'm almost dizzy, and we're driving all over Santa Monica trying to find a restaurant that will let us in. One after another, we're turned away. Jesus and Mary, there's no room at the inn. There isn't even any food left at most of these restaurants by now.
This goes on for another hour and I'm getting increasingly annoyed with my boyfriend. Finally, we are allowed to sit at the bar in this cheezy, not terribly romantic seafood grill. The barstools are packed up against each other. The guy next to me is elbowing me as he's eating alone. I realize he's getting drunker and is flagrantly hitting on me. The service is terrible and we wait again, 30 more minutes, just to catch the waiter's attention, as the guy next to me offers to buy me a drink.
When my salmon finally arrives, it's sloppily prepared and overcooked -- the chef no doubt is in a bad mood himself by 11 pm on Valentine's Day. I'm grumpy. My date is grumpy. The guy next to us is getting more obnoxious.
Just then, I see this gorgeous, radiant couple walking out of the restaurant. There's almost an aura of radiant light surrounding them. His hair is long and blonde. His smile is angelic. She has transparent, luminous skin, and long flowing golden hair. He's wearing jeans. She's in a simple, almost frumpy navy blue sundress. They're holding hands and shyly exiting as a crowd swarms around them.
It's at that moment I suddenly realize it's Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow.
At first my inner snob was thinking: "Wait a minute. Brad and Gwyneth are wealthy celebrities. They can go anywhere. Why are they here in this cheezy seafood diner? Why aren't they eating at a five star restaurant, or the Hotel Bel Air, or perhaps the Beverly Hills Hotel on Valentine's Day?
But then the beauty of this moment hit me: "If it's good enough for Brad Pitt to take Gwyneth Paltrow here on Valentine's Day, it's certainly good enough for me."
It was one of life's great humbling moments.
That experience taught me a lot about how it's the experience that matters, the thought and the caring, and not the material frills. Where you are is not as important as who you're with. Every year since then, I've been grateful if I even have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, if he gives me a simple card with a heartfelt inscription, that expression of love alone is enough to make me happy.
Though I am quite sure of one thing: Reservation or not, Brad and Gwynneth certainly got a table that night.
