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God bless you Steve, this one was a good one...and
I'll pass it on to my father, who pastor's a church, and if he uses it in his
bulletin, I'll make sure I let him know that you sent it...as I'm sure it will
bless many more...
Sylvia
"Surely goodness and loving
kindness
will follow me all the days of my life, and I
will dwell in the
house of the LORD forever."
Psalm 23:6
-Sylvia C. Lopez
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:27
AM
Subject: [RecipesAndMore] The Touch
"The Touch"
>> Yesterday I paused outside the deli in
my office building to let
pass a
>> rather harried
>>
Looking mother pushing a stroller loaded with a variety of
shoulder
bags
>> and
>> a small little
>> girl.
>>
My mind was elsewhere and I never actually saw what caused
it,
but
>> halfway
>> through
>> This narrow
doorway a wheel of the stroller caught on the
threshold and
>>
tipped the entire
>> load forward.
>> Caught off balance and
a little pre-occupied herself, this
young lady
>>
lost
>> her grip
>> and the stroller pitched forward,
spilling the contents of
several bags
>> and
>> one very
frightened
>> brown haired child.
>> Instinct took over and
as any father would do, my first reaction
was to
>>
lift
>> this
>> baby to my shoulder, pat her on the back and
console her. I
couldn't get
>> over how light she was or
how
>> strange it was that she didn't look around for her
mother.
>> She just cried and stared directly at the wall and never
turned
her head
>> in
>> any direction.
>>
Despite her small stature, Angelica, as I would later learn her
name
was,
>> nearly
>> choked me with her grip, as she
frantically held onto my shirt
and neck.
>> Never responding to my
voice as
>> my daughter had, Angelica pressed her face into my hands
as I
stroked her
>> hair and
>> wiped the tears from her
wide green eyes.
>> It only took a second or two for her mother to
free the stroller
from the
>> doorway
>> and race to my
side, but Angelica would not let go of my
shoulder and
>>
hand
>> so I told her mother to go
>> ahead and get her
things together while I held the baby.
>> I had resumed my attempt at
calming the baby when her mother
turned and
>> said,
>>
"She can only hear you if you put her ear to your chest,
she's
also
>> deaf."
>> Also? I turned my head to stare
into this beautiful little girls
eyes,
>> and
>> saw
nothing
>> - no response, no reaction.
>> This frail,
frightened child was blind and deaf, her only window
to the
>>
world was
>> through touch.
>> I stroked her cheek and was
given a hopeful smile through her
tears, I
>> tickled
her
>> under the chin, she giggled and placed her head on my
shoulder
and
>> sighed.
>> My heart was broken
as
>> I could only think of my own two and a-half-year old
daughter,
Christina.
>> I thought
>> of how often she
fell asleep to my wife and I singing to her or
how often
>>
I
>> catch her looking
>> out of the corner of her eye at me
and laughing when I wink or
make a
>> face.
>> Would she
ever know the
>> joy and love in her home if she couldn't see or hear
it?
>> Could I show her how much she means in my life just by
touch
alone?
>> How often had I said, "I love you, Good
night," without a hug
or a
>> kiss?
>> We all know
how important touching can be, we all know the peace
that
>>
settles into
>> your heart after a warm hug, but could any of us
convey complex
emotions
>> like sadness,
>> joy, sympathy
or love through touch alone?
>> Did this little girl know that I was
a stranger, someone she had
never
>> been
>> near
before?
>> Did she even have a concept of different people at
all? Could
she tell
>> her
>> mother
>>
apart from any other woman? And then all these questions
were
answered
>> in
>> one quick second.
>> Her
mother took her from me and nuzzled her neck and hugged her.
>> The
look on that child's face answered all and then some. Of
course
she
>> could.
>> I took my seat and tried my best not to cry
in the hallway of my
office.
>> I
>> pray
>>
that this mother can somehow get through to her little girl over
the
only
>> bridge available, and I pray
>> that I will never
have to try.
>> I do know one thing though -- I'm going home tonight
and
practice...
LR FROM NOTTINGHAM
ENGLAND
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