Angels and Ordinary Men

My brother is in the country this week for his work, and he rang me tonight to tell me this story:-

So, I walked into one of the local cafes for lunch, and pulled up a chair by myself. I noticed a three year old girl, right, who was trying to do break-dance, you know? She had her little head on the carpet and was trying to turn around. Her mum was nearby with some friends of hers, catching up over lunch.

The little girl then got up to the chair next to her mother, and, then, for no particular reason, turned her head around to look at me.

She saw that I was alone, and so she asked, "Where's your family?"

I blushed, and stammered how I was here for work.

The little girl then got off her chair, and walked towards my table. She tried to pull the chair next to me, but it was too big for her. I gave her a hand, and she clambered her way up the chair next to me.

She talked to me for a brief moment before reaching for the menu with her little hands and trying to read the menu. En - try! she would read aloud the word entree.

the way to a man's bread

Soon, my curry crab chowder came, with bread on its side, and she looked interested in my lunch. "What's that?" she said, pointing at it. "Oh, it's curry chowder. And there's some bread to go with it," I patiently explained.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the bread.

"It's bread," I repeated.

"What's that?" "It's bread."

"What's that?" "It's.... would you like some bread?"

"Yes, please."

I gave her some bread and she chewed at it, pleased as punch. "I like bread," she smiled.

I finished my lunch, and my dessert arrived - a lemon tart with strawberries, and mint sauce on the side.

"What's that?"

"Would you like a strawberry," I said, wise to her now.

"Yes, please. I like strawberries," she beamed in all her 3 year old glory.

hide-and-seek

There was nothing that I would not have given her, and she was eating her strawberry contentedly when she noticed another family getting up to leave. There were kids in that family, and they were playing a brief game of hide-and-seek as they were leaving.

She got off the chair in tiny tot stages, and rushed to join the children.

"Now, now, dear," her mother said. "They're leaving."

"Okay," she said, returning to my side. I was still in the process of polishing off my dessert, when she looked up at me and said, excitedly... "Let's play hide and seek!"

"Oh well, I don't know..." I was in my business suit, you know, and I really didn't want to go playing hide-and-seek in formal attire! And so I stayed in my chair.

But she didn't hear me, her little hands were folded over the table, and her little head was resting on it, and she was counting out loud, in all seriousness - "One, two, free, six, twelve, six, ten!" and then quickly lifted her head and scampered under the chair. "Iiii seeeee youuu....." she laughed, pointing at my not so obvious hiding place. "Tag, you're it!"

"Well done!" I said.

"Do you know how to play hide-and-seek or not?" she asked. "All you have to do is hide, and I count to ten, and then I find you and touch you and say "Tag, you're it!"

"Your turn now!" she exclaimed, having explained the rules to me.

I counted out loud, "One, two, three, four..."

"You're not closing your eyes!" she protested from behind me. "Okay, okay!" I gave in, one hand closing the left eye and my right hand angled to look like it was closing my right one, when I was actually scooping dessert into my mouth.

'...nine, ten!!' I caught Mum and her friends laughing, and as I turned around I could see why. There she was standing next to a potted plant that was just slightly taller than herself. "I can see you!" Mum said, and the girl walked out smiling sheepishly.

"Okay, again! Start counting!" I was looking at my watch this time and getting out of my chair, making apologies to Mum that I had to leave for work. She was apologising profusely in return for having her little angel bother me.

take one hardened heart, and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes at 210 Farenheit...

"B_____!" she said to her daughter. "This nice man's got to leave, okay? He's got to go to work!"

Her little feet stopped their journey to her next hiding place, and she turned around. "You got to go?" she said, disappointed. "Let me give you a hug."

And I walked gingerly towards this little darling, and got on one knee and gave her big hug. I almost didn't want to let go.

"You have an astonishing little daughter," I said to her mother. "What's her name?" She gave her name. "Well, ten years from now, I'm going to be looking her up," I said, not realising how inappropriate it sounded. The mother and her friends laughed out with a slight nervousness, although they knew what I meant.

I walked away from the restaurant, my heart in a puddle. And for the rest of the day, I was just basking around in the glow that this little angel left me, and her love just diffused out into the people around me.

I wanted to be part of this girl's life, you know? I wanted to watch her grow up, and see where life would take her.

But then I realised, for forty blessed minutes, at least, I was part of her life.

- Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.- Matthew 19:13-15 NIV