But I hurried the best I
could through all the people to the toy department. Once again I kind of
mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys. And wondered if the
grandkids would even play with them. I found myself in the doll aisle.
Out of the corner of my
eye I saw a little boy, about 5, holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her
hair and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept
looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for. I watched
him turn to a woman, and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I
don't have enough money?"
She replied a bit
impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it." The aunt told
the little boy not to go anywhere, that she had to go get some other things
and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the aisle.
The boy continued to hold
the doll. After a bit I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It is
the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa
would bring it." I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said,
"No, Santa can't go where my sister is...I have to give the doll to my Mamma
to take to her."
I asked him where his
sister was. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "She has gone to
be with Jesus. My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to go be with her."
My heart nearly stopped
beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell
Mama not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the
store". Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would
love to. He
pulled out some pictures he had taken at the front of the store. He said "I
want my Mamma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. I love my
Mama so very much and I wish she did not have to leave me. But Daddy says she
will need to be with my sister."
I saw that the little boy
had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. While he was not looking, I
reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little
boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?"
He grew excited and said
"Yes, I just know it has to be enough".
So I slipped my money in
with his, and we began to count it. Of course it was plenty for the doll.
He softly said, "Thank
you, Jesus, for giving me enough money." Then the boy said "I just asked Jesus
to give me enough money to buy this doll, so Mama can take it with her, to
give to my sister. And He heard my prayer. I wanted to ask Him for enough to
buy my Mama a white rose, but I didn't ask Him, but He gave me enough to buy
the doll and a rose for my Mama. She loves white roses so very, very much".
In a few minutes the aunt
came back, and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about
the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than
when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper
several days earlier, about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little
girl and leaving the Mother in serious condition. The family was deciding on
whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong
with that story.
Two days later, I read in
the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young
woman had died. I could not forget the little boy, and just kept wondering if
the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself and I
went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home, where
the young woman was.
And there she was, holding
a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in
the store.
I left there in tears, my
life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and
his mother was overwhelming. And in a split second a drunk driver had ripped
the life of that little boy to pieces.
- Unknown
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