THE DOLL
AND A WHITE ROSE
(BASED
ON A TRUE STORY, AUTHOR UNKNOWN)
I hurried
into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gives.
I looked at ll 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 mumbled to myself at the prices
of all these toys, and wondered if the grand kids would even play with
them.
I found
myself on 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 asked "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
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 Mama 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
suddenly 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 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 Mama 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 money 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 the Mother
was 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 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.
"Friends
are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering
how to fly."
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