On the last day before christmas, i hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the rest of the gifts i had not managed to buy earlier.

When i saw all the people there, i started to complain to myself, "its gonna take forever here and i still have so many other places to go. Christams is really gettin more and more annoyin every year. How i wish i could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it is all over."

Nonetheless, i made my way to the toy section, and there i started to curse the prices, wondering if children really played with such expensive toys after all. While looking around at the toy sectin, i noticed a little boy, about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest. He kept touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. i was curious as to whom the doll was for.

After a while, the little boy turned to the old woamn next to him. "granny, are you sure i dont have enough money?"

The old lady replied, " You know that you dont have enough money to by this doll, my dear." Then she asked him to stay there for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, i started to walk towards him and asked him whom he wanted to give the doll to.

"It is the doll that my sister loved the most and wanted so much for this christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

i replied that perhaps Santa claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

However, he replied sadly, "No, Santa claus cannot birng it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there." his eyes were so sad when he was sayin those words. "My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that mummy will also go to see God very soon, so i thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister."

My hear nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said, " I told daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. i ask him to wait until i come back from the supermarket." He showed me a very nice photograph of himself, in which he was laughin. He then told me, "i also want mummy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me. i love mummy and i wish she didnt have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister."

Then he looked again at the doll very quietly, with sad eyes.

i quickly reached for myt wallet and taking out a few notes, sugggested, " why dont we check again, just in case you have enough money?"

"Ok," he answered. "i hope that i have enough."

i added some of my money to his without seeing what i had done and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money.

The little boy said, "Thank you, God, for giving me enough money." Then he looked at me and added, " i asked yesterday before i slept for God to make sure i have enough money to buy this doll so that mummy can give it to my sister. He heard me." He continued, "i also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but i didnt dare to ask God too much. But he gave me enough to buy the doll and white roses." He turned to look at me. " You know, my mummy loves white roses."

A few mintues later, the old lady returned and i left with my trolley. i finished my shopping in a totally different starte from when i started. i could not get the little boy out of my mind.

Suddenly, i remeber a local newspaper article two days before, which mentioned a drunken man in a truck who had hit a car in which there a young lady and a littl girl. The little girl was killed instantly, the mother was left in a critical condition. The family had to decided whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma.

"Was this the damily of the little boy?" i wondered.

Two days afer that encounter with the little boy, i read the newpaper that the young lady had passed away. Unable to stop myself, i went to buy a bunch of white roses and made my way to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was lying, for people to look at and make a last wish before her burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photograph of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place cryin, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that the littl boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. In a fraction of a second, a drunken man had taken all that away from him

just a meaningful story which i wanted to share

Nigel blogged at
5:48 PM