Skip to main content

A Day With a Girl

It was not the first time that we met, but the first time we talked and I "picked" her up. We talked of "Spiderman," "Batman" and "Superman" and "Spiderman" emerged as the favourite hero. We "threw" spiderwebs and caught planes in the sky and climbed buildings. We discussed at length where I could get a "spidy" outfit since her's were too small for me to fit. We counted roses around the place and the people passing by. We picked up a book to read a story and the story we "read" was nowhere near the story that was written. We counted our ones, twos and threes and recited the A, B and C though we never got far in either. We discovered that she had powers in her shoes and had a head-to-head" fight and everytime she won. We made faces, danced around the room and went to lunch nearby and probably the only time we walked together.Then we got back to the carrying round, tiny hands clasped around to give a hug. 

 Years from now she'll be all grown up and we will never do some of the things together, perhaps she'll not even remember it but then, the memories are mine to keep. At the end of the day, I was left with an aching arm and a grateful heart-a heart that was for a little while again a child.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boy on the Bus

He was just a boy on the bus, calling out to people to get on board. His eyes counted the empty seats and his voice called out for people to fill them up. I watched as he checked to see all the seats were taken and then he called out to the driver to start the bus. The trip to the town began and he came around collecting the fares - little hands gripping the bills and the coins inspecting the bills carefully and returning changes. He did it with ease, after all he was used to it. I couldn't but help think about this little boy as I watched him from my seat. Perhaps another of his age would have been delighted to go on such a ride. Another would have loved the sights of the "world" passing by but this boy kept his eyes on his little hands with the fares and the change. What might have been a delight to another was to him a routine. He will step down not because he has reached his destination but a stop to let people down and take in others. The youngest on board, he w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hope

What does hope look like? In a conference, we were each given play clay and asked to shape an object that symbolized hope for us as individuals. Everyone set to work with much excitement. Most of us a little unsure about the task, looking around at what the early starters were making, some small discussions and giggling as we each set to decide on an object to shape. Eventually, we all finished and with much delight looked at what each of us crafted.  Hope may appear different from person to person but having hope is a shared phenomenon. Losing hope is also a sad reality, but that is for another time. Our symbols of hope may also change as we grow and gain richer and deeper experience in life. One of the poems that I now resonate with a little more is William Butler Yeats' A Prayer For My Daughter . I look at this as a prayer of hope that Yeats expresses for his daughter as a storm, symbolising a chaotic world she would grow up in, rages on. Like Yeats, I have the joy of being a f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Class of 2022

Every year, around this time a batch of students graduate and the whole community goes through the process of bidding "good-byes" and "see yous". It is indeed a day of mixed emotions as achievements are celebrated and the reality of parting of ways (but hopefully not of friendships) sets in. Every year, I walk the down the line to congratulate the graduates and wish them knowing fully well that some I will never meet again, at least in this life, though bits of news may make through now and then. A few hours ago today, we went through this whole process and finished off the academic year. Some are now back home, safe and sound, others travelling still; some are going back home with much joy to loved ones, some are going back with a heavy heart having lost loved ones in the near past. However, whatever may be the case, this fact remains "the journey is done and God has seen us through" and this is worth honouring. As such, as an old timer I writ...
6 comments
Read more