Yesterday Noah and I did some shopping. One of the stores we had to go to was our local home improvement store. While walking around, I saw another mother pushing her child in a stroller… and thought once again that I wished our stroller would fit in my trunk, but it doesn’t. As I was checking out, the same mother came up behind me to check out as well. Noah was naturally hamming it up, as he usually does when people gush over him… and the cashier was gushing (he did look cute in his little polar bear snow suit!). The woman behind me chuckled at Noah and I looked back and smiled to acknowledge her. Her son looked to be older than Noah… maybe 18 months with dark curly hair and big brown eyes. As I looked down further I saw the scars on his face, and then the arms… and then I noticed that his hand had been amputated and from beneath the coat that covered his legs, it looked like his feet had been too. My heart sank as I realized the pain he must have gone through already in his short life. The cashier was finishing up with me and I was fumbling to get everything back in my purse and cart, and moved out of the way. I felt like an idiot, because all that I had done was smile at them, more so even when I heard the cashier start gushing… just as she had with Noah.
I felt like a fool, because here I was thinking… oh that poor boy… what happened to him. The cashier could have reacted the same way, but she didn’t… her reaction, I felt, was so much better. I went to my car, put Noah in the car seat and gave him a little kiss. I then prayed… for the little boy, that everyone he meets be as kind to him as the woman in the store, that he not have to go through any more pain… I prayed for his mother… for the cashier, that she continue to be so compassionate…and I prayed that Noah stay safe.
It is a blessing to have a healthy child. We found that out in the few weeks after Noah’s birth (but that is a post on its own). I thanked God yesterday to be so blessed.
