COURTESY OF THE CLAYTONS AND
FRIENDS FROM FLORIDA
I was walking around in a WalMart 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
around. 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 after all, 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 himself. 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 didn'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 of mind 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 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.
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