***This may very well be a Christmas story but I think that it needs to be left up all year long. If this stops the needless death of one person by an impaired driver, the author's work has been worthwhile***
I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute
Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I
would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. Christmas was beginning to
become such a drag. I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas.
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 Momma 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 Momma 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 Momma 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'd
had taken at the front of the store. He said, "I want my Momma to take this with her
so she doesn't ever forget me. I love my Momma 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 hand full of bills. I ask 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. And 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 Momma 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 Momma a white rose,
but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for
my Momma.
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
the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on removal
of 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.
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