Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Every Day Miracles - Imagination

   The young lady who walked up to us was striking in her youthful beauty.  Her smile was bright and she was self-assured and confident as she approached us.

   She and her sister were coming to stay with us for a few days.    M. understood she would only be with us a short time, but it was obvious she was reluctant to leave her Mom behind.

   The girls arrived at the house and were happy to get something to eat and drink.  It was the end of the week, so they put their bookbags away and changed their clothes.  As they walked into the playroom, they were immediately attracted by the dolls and they wanted to play with them.

   Over the next few days, whenever we would check in on the girls, they were happily settled in their play area with their baby dolls, clothes and accessories gathered around them.   The girls dressed their dolls, fed them, and took them to the store.   After watching them for a few minutes one day, I asked  Miss B. who was supervising them, “Isn’t it a little unusual for a 10 year old to be so enamored with baby dolls?”  Miss B. replied, “M. told me she never had a baby doll before so all she wants to do is play with them.”

   A couple of nights later, M. was acting a little out of sorts at the dinner table.  Then she asked if she could use the restroom.  After she came out, one hand was covering her mouth and the other was holding a tissue.  In the tissue was a tooth that she had just “wiggled” out.  She smiled as she handed it to me.  Then she went back to finish her meal.

   I held the tissue in my hand and looked at Sr. Mary as I asked, “Does the tooth fairy come for 10 year olds?” 

   Without hesitation, Sr. Mary replied, “At Blessing House she does.”

   I put M.’s tooth in a bag and then gave it to her to put under her pillow that night.  I was waiting for her to tell me that she was too old for the tooth fairy and she didn’t believe in it.  But she didn’t.

   That night the tooth fairy did find her way to Blessing House.   And when M. woke up, she looked under her pillow.

   “Sr. Sandy, I can’t find my tooth.”
    Sr. Sandy and I just looked at each other and wondered what had happened.   Then Sr. Sandy helped M. look around the bed until they found the treasure lodged behind the mattress.

   M. broke out her winning smile, even though she was still barely awake, and looked at the two dollars that she held in her hand.  She couldn’t wait to tell her Mom.

   M. blossomed during her short stay with us.  She finally left the baby dolls behind and began to try other things.  She played jump rope outside and was excited when she taught a six year old how to jump in while she twirled for him.  She even enjoyed the one on one time she had with a staff member when she was getting help with her homework after school.  She admitted she needed help with her math and could only do the problems if she added the numbers on her fingers.  But she proudly showed the smile face she got on her homework page every afternoon when she came home from school.

   Whenever M.’s Mom called to talk to her, M. always asked, “How are you feeling, Mom?”  Then, “Where are you?”  Then finally, “When are we coming home?”

   The girls, as confident as they were, had still been afraid for their mom.  They didn’t understand her illness, but they did know that going to a hospital meant that you were really sick.  They knew their Mom had been sick for some time, and M.’s sister even admitted she was afraid her Mom was going to die.

   The path from childhood to adulthood is so different for everyone.  In some ways we grow up slowly, but in others, we are forced to grow up very quickly.  When this happens, we can miss out on so much.

   I’m glad M. was able to take a step back in time and experience some of the childhood joys she may have missed.  Baby dolls, the tooth fairy, playing house.  M.  has probably experienced things no 10 year old should have experienced in her short life, but it is obvious she has not lost her youth or her imagination.

   I don’t know if M. really believes in the tooth fairy or not.
   But it doesn’t matter.
   For one night, for a couple of weeks, it was fun to play pretend.

  


  

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