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Archiver > TNCARROL > 1999-12 > 0945899365


From: "Suzy Jourdan-Grant" <>
Subject: [TNCARROL] Fw: {Fayebe} A Love Story
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:49:25 -0600


----- Original Message -----
From: "Suzy Jourdan-Grant" <>
To: "DanvilleCrossing-L" <>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 3:47 PM
Subject: Fw: {Fayebe} A Love Story


>
> A Love Story
>
> We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a
> high chair. Suddenly Erik squealed and said "Hi there." He pounded
> his hands on the high-chair tray and wriggled and giggled with merriment.
>
> I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a
> tattered rag of a coat, dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with
a
> zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would be shoes. His shirt
was
> dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short
to
> be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.
We
> were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled.
>
> His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. "Hi there, baby. I see ya,
> buster," the man said to Erik.
>
> My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Everyone in the
> restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer
>
> was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the
> man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya know patty cake? Do
> you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a boo. Nobody thought
> the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were
> embarrassed.
>
> We ate in silence, all except for Erik, who was running through his
> repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with
his
> cute comments.
>
> We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went
> to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man
sat
> poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he
> speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my
> back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I
> did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's
pick-me-up
> position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms
> to the man's.
>
> Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated
> their love relationship. Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and
> submission
> laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed
and
> I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain
and
> hard labor-gently, so gently cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his
back.
>
> No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood
> awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment,
> and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm
> commanding voice, "You take care of this baby. "Somehow I managed,
> I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his
chest
> unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby and
> the man said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift."
> I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran
for
> the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so
> tightly, and why I was saying,"My God, my God, forgive me." I had just
> witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who
saw
> no sin, who made no judgment, a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw
a
> suit of clothes.
>
> I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it
was
> God asking...."Are you willing to share your son for a moment?", when HE
> shared His for an eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded
> me,"To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."
>
>
> Author Unknown
>
> As I sat down to do my "Christmas cards" online, I recieved this in the
> mail. I choose for this to be my card to you, because I can think of
> nothing better to convey the true meaning of Christmas, and to help us
> remember day in and day out, Christmas is not about presents.. not about
> material things. It is simply about the Son and the love of Our Father.
> May the holidays find you in health, happiness, and peace...and may the
dawn
> of the new Millennium fill your lives with His gifts.
>
> Susie
>

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