The other day I was headed out shopping with a friend. We were leaving my development turning to drive across the new bridge. It was extremely cold and I remember putting the heated seats on in my truck as soon as I got in as did my friend.
We were laughing and I noticed a young man walking holding a very small baby.
The baby was dressed in a fleece onesie only and the young man was holding one of those baby sized blankets over him.
I slowed to an idle stop and rolled down the window.
Me: Where are you going out here with that baby?
Him: Roy Rogers.
Me: Get in.
He and the baby got in and the blanket fell off the baby's head and he looked at us and didn't make a sound. The baby looked exactly like his father. EXACTLY.
And that poor baby was cold.
The father was going to meet the mother at Roy Rogers because it was the easiest middle point for them to walk to get to each other. The mother had a new job so things were looking up for her and he watched the baby while she was at work.
Me: So what are you doing with yourself?
Him: Trying to get it together ma'am.
Had that young man not had the baby with him...this is what he would have looked like...
A sports team hoodie with some dusty looking jeans which were sagging and showing his underwear. His jacket was inadequate but that false bravado swagger would have been in full effect and he would have worn it proudly knowing it was all he had in a mind game of comparison. He had the smell of someone who smokes in the clothes he's wearing and puts those clotes on the next day because they were still clean.
He would have looked like a potential threat to some people.
Not to me.
That baby neutralized that baby cuz that's all he was...a baby. A young, fresh-faced kid who'd made a few poor decisions and was trying to get it together.
We drove him to the Roy Rogers and the mother of the baby was sitting in a booth by the window. I knew it was her as soon as I saw her because the baby looked just like her too. She looked tired and much older than I calculated she probably was. Her face changed when she saw the father of her child and her child. She smiled this huge, beautiful smile.
And her son started kicking his legs in that way perfect babies do when they are happy.
I woke up this morning with them on my mind.
They are making it.
Trying to get it together.
As you run around this morning trying to get it together for your holiday, take the time to live WITHIN the moment of being with you and yours and having enough. Note the small things we take for granted like a kitchen faucet with hot and cold water. A light switch which floods the room with light when you flip it. Your car at your home with gas in it.
People have much less these days.
Be thankful for what you have.
Be thankful for WHO you have.
And remember...we'll ALL get better as we all take notice of what is going on around us and help when we can.
Happy Thanksgiving from 13700.
Love,
Monnie, Robby, Jaru and Lucy