creativenachos.com Blog

“Hand in Hand”

Photo by Brian Moynihan

On a recent trip to the sprinklers with my daughter and her Uncle, I met a rather unusual fellow. My brother and I were fascinated by the rainbows that appeared and disappeared as children ran through the water, amused by shouts of “No fair, I called time out before you tagged me” and entertained by my daughter who was trying to make friends with a little girl in a Little Mermaid bathing suit by repeatedly waving at her. Suddenly, a young boy who was probably three and a half sat down next to me.

“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Natasha, and who might you be?”
“Andrew,” he said, with a shoulder shrug and giggle.
“Well, hello Andrew.”
Then, turning to my daughter, I said, “Say hi.”
I was trying to encourage her to stop waving at the little girl she longed to be friends with – she’d been doing it for at least five minutes – and say hello. However, the little boy thought I was asking him to say hi. So, he put down the blue cup and purple shovel he’d been carrying, walked over to my daughter and took one of her hands. Just as I imagine one of King Arthur’s knights might have done upon encountering a lady, he kissed the top of her hand and then took the other and kissed that one as well. My fourteen-month-old daughter watched him, then looked him in the eye, giggled a shy giggle and ran toward me. Yet, he did not let go of her hand. Instead, he ran along after her like a kite following on a string. When she reached me, she made a sound that meant, “Get this guy off me.” So, I removed her hand from his and explained that while she appreciated the kisses she simply didn’t want to hold hands. I could not help but laugh; it was an adorable scene.

“Why are you laughing?” he asked. He was laughing as well and clearly wanted me to explain what we both found so amusing.

“I’m just silly like that. I just laugh sometimes.” This made him laugh even harder.

My daughter climbed onto my knee, wrapped one arm around me and sat there, half hugging me and half smiling at the boy. A moment later, he climbed onto the seat next to me, wrapped his arms around my neck and tried to sit on me like my daughter.

“Woooo honey, I’m sorry. Thank you for the hug but right now I only have room for one monkey on my lap. Ok, everyone in the water,” I said, trying to get out of this situation.

It was clear he wanted to be hugged but I had no idea who he was or where his Mom was and I was not about to do anything that could be interpreted as inappropriate. So, I picked up my daughter and ran through the sprinklers. He followed for us for awhile and then on the last loop through the water, he ran out of the sprinklers. When we sat down again, my brother said, “Wow, that little boy had a lot of love to give.”

“And it felt like no one to give it to,” I said. We spotted him whizzing in and around groups of children and then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone.

Later, as I pushed my daughter on the swings, I saw him leaving with his caretaker. As he walked along beside his carriage, he was all but invisible to her. When he asked her something, she spoke to him in an inappropriately angry tone. His shoulders seemed to sag as he walked behind her. A moment later, he waved to a little kid who was entering the park. When that child waved back, the little boy began to skip. We watched him skip ahead of his caretaker, and out through the park gates. I wish I could have given him more time, attention and hugs.

Have you met anyone like this or had a similar experience? Have you helped someone share? Have you been the person who has been longing to share? If so, how have you given?

Regardless of age, we all have a ton of love to give. Problem is we sometimes get shut down when we try to share it. When that happens, some of us stop giving, others persevere. Either way, we all have so much to give. It literally takes one minute to shut someone down; it’s so easy to do. One thoughtless comment, one moment of ridicule can stop someone from being who they are and giving what’s in their heart. Luckily, it takes one minute to accept the love and encourage them to keep giving to help someone grow and, in turn, make this world just a little better.

Today, I invite you to really listen to all those around you. I guarantee you will come into contact with one person who has so much to share and if you let them, they’ll change your life in a second by simply, generously sharing of themselves. Or maybe you’ll find that the person yearning to give is you.

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