I was walking around in a
Target store, when I saw a cashier hand this little boy some money
back.
The boy couldn’t have been more than 5
or 6 years old. The cashier said, “I’m sorry, but you
don’t have enough money to buy this doll.” Then the
little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ”Granny, are
you sure I don’t have enough money?” The old lady
replied: ”You know that you don’t have enough money to
buy this doll, my dear.” Then she asked him to stay there for
just 5 minutes while she went to look a round. She left quickly.
The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I
walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll
to. “It’s the doll that my sister loved most and wanted
so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it
to her.” I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring
it to her afterall, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly.
“No, Santa Claus can’t bring it to her where she is
now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to
my sister when she goes there.” His eyes were so sad while
saying this. “My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says
that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she
could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.” My
heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said:
“I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait
until I come back from the mall.” Then he showed me a very
nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me “I
want mommy to take my picture with her so she won’t forget
me. I love my mommy and I wish she doesn’t have to leave me,
but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little
sister.” Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very
quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy.
“Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough
money for the doll?” “OK,” he said, “I hope
I do have enough.” I added some of my money to his without
him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the
doll and even some spare money. The little boy said: “Thank
you God for giving me enough money!” Then he looked at me and
added, “I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to
make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could
give it to my sister. He heard me!” “I also wanted to
have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I
didn’t dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to
buy the doll and a white rose.” “My mommy loves white
roses.” A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left
with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state
from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy out of my
mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago,
which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a
young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and
the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide
whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because
the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was
this the family of the little boy? Two days after this encounter
with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young woman
had passed away. I couldn’t stop myself as I bought a bunch
of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the
young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes
before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a
beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy
and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed,
feeling that my life had been changed forever.. The love that the
little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day,
hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had
taken all this away from him.