THIS IS AN ACTUAL INCIDENT

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to
the supermarket to buy the remaining of the gift I didn't manage to buy
earlier.

When I saw all the people there, I started to
complain to myself: "It is going to take forever here and I still have so
many other places to go..."

"Christmas really is getting more and more annoying
every year.

How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and
only wake up after it..."

Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and
there started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids really
play with such expensive toys. While looking in the toy section, I
noticed a small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his
chest.

He kept on touching the hair ! of the doll and looked
so sad. I wondered who this doll was for.

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 5 minutes while she went
to look around.

She left quickly. The little boy was still holding
the doll in his hand.

Finally, I started to walk towards him and I asked
him who he wanted to give this doll to.

'It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted
so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would
bring it to her.'

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it
to her after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. 'No,
Santa Claus cannot bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the
doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there.'
His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My sister has gone to be with
God.

Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very
soon, 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 mummy not to go yet.

I asked him to wait until I came back from the
supermarket. Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was
laughing. He then told me: 'I also want mummy to take this photo with her so
that she will not forget me. I love my mummy 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 took a few notes and said
to the boy. 'What if we checked again, just in case if you have enough
money?'

'Ok' he said. 'I hope that I 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 left over. The little boy
said: 'Thank you God for
giving me enough money' Then he
looked at me and added: 'I asked yesterday before I went to sleep
for God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mummy
can give it to my sister.

He heard me. I also wanted to have enough money to
buy a white rose for my mummy, but didn't dare to ask God too much. But He
gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose.' 'You know, my mummy
loves white roses' A few minutes later, the old lady came back again and I
left with my trolley.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state
from when started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I
remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a
drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady 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-assisting machine, because the
young lady would
not be able to get out of the coma. Was this the family of the little
boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I
read that the young lady had passed away. I couldn't stop myself and went
to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body
of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wish
before 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 crying, feeling that my life had been
changed forever.

The love that this 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 man had taken all this away from him.


FRIENDS ARE LIKE ANGELS, WHO HELP US FLY WHEN OUR
WINGS HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO FLY