Awe and why

Untitled Part 9

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 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 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.