.

Of what avail is an open eye if the heart is blind? - Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Of all the positive there was to choose from, she chose to focus on a physical flaw. "He would be a handsome man IF -"

And then continued to say how she could not understand how people could allow themselves to look that way.

I was stunned wordless. Perhaps because I have known him so long, the flaw is not something I see.

She hasn't known him for years, but she surely she has seen his gentleness and his heart. It's so obvious to everyone who encounters him. Always, a kind word. A helping hand. An offer if help isn't asked for. A smile for children when others might be annoyed by their rambunctiousness, because he remembers. Strength. Wit. He's a rare combination with that little bit extra that makes another person stop and take notice.

I wanted to jump to his defense. A hundred sharp words for nailing her to the wall leaped to the end of my tongue and died there. If that's all she sees, no amount of enlightenment could teach her anything below surface or show her what there is to a man that makes him more.

If it would not raise questions and perhaps a blush adding one more color to an already vast spectrum, I would go up to him and tell him what I see. And I know what he would say, "I don't know about that." If it would not raise questions, I would look in his eyes and tell him - You are beautiful.

And it would be true.