Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Let someone lean on you...


This week I had the privilege of helping a young family move and re-locate to a new home. They had been through a great deal of pain and suffering that will leave scars on their hearts for many years if not a life-time...

The highlight was riding with the young boy, an eight year old. He was the same age as I was when my dad left to go be with another man. This boys face hung like one familiar to me, and his eyes had the blank stare that I'm sure too many youth have had in the worlds history. He seemed excited and scared at the same time, thrilled to be away but in a puzzled wonder that it could happen again. I watched the smiles come and go with traces of new hope-filled dreams and also the dreaded anguish of a young boy that has probably seen the un-cut version of "Cops" before the film crew arrives. I tried to build up the occasion with the reminder of new friends, a room , and school then, he hit me with it, "we're gonna have a new dad someday." "We're leaving and he can't know where we're going." He paused the amount of time needed to draw a question looking at me the whole time so I asked,"why?" He said, "because he'll kill us all." Tears lay on his cheeks like chains and his chin hit his chest. I thought I might have to pull over. I swallowed back my tears with all my might knowing I had to do the talking for a while. I told him that a new world was opening up for him, a chance for him to be whatever he wanted and to put all the pain away and that it was time to feel love, real love! He began to tell me exactly what he had witnessed and though our stories were different, I couldn't help but notice the sorrow that shaped his face was much like the kind that had distorted mine so many years earlier. That boy reached down and spread his ribs wide open for me to see his heart and he didn't miss a beat doing so. I guess I expected a somewhat longer passage and to my amazement, the boy just handed himself to me like a broken toy.
We continued to talk and finally reached our destination. The work got done and it was time for me to leave. I had to leave and that boy came running to give me a hug that matched the ones I receive from my own children. The drive was long but, it wasn't long enough for me to do what I wanted to, I hope it did some good for the short time he had to lean on me... I don't remember having anyone to do that with when I was his age. It was one of those times to give something you didn't get...

In Him, Michael...

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