I have a memory I want to treasure forever.
But at first, I wasn't sure how.
I don't have any pictures of it, as it didn't seem like the kind of thing to be snapping away with my camera phone. So Instagram was out.
And it didn't feel like the kind of thing to put on Facebook, as it was much to special and personal to share with hundreds of so-called Facebook "friends".
And then I realized I had this place to share my memories. A place that for most of the year, I've put on the back-burner, only posting recent pictures of the girls or writing on special birthdays or holidays. This year, I think I totaled a record-breaking LOW of posts.
Nevertheless, this is where I want to share our memory. Knowing that it will be written down for all of time. And then eventually published into a photo book. And then someday, pulled from the shelf of an old bookcase and remembered like it was only yesterday. As it really was only yesterday when it happened.
****
Yesterday was the last day of the school year before Christmas Break and Molly and I had just finished up a fun holiday party in her classroom. She'd consumed three tons of sugar and had walked out with promises of no-homework, sleeping in and play-dates with friends over the next two weeks.
Since we'd had a considerably rough first semester, adjusting to "real" homework and tests and learning to read, I felt like we both deserved a bit of celebrating. So as we settled into my car, I asked her if she wanted to go on a Mommy Date.
And of course, her blue eyes lit up as she happily exclaimed
YES!
Now, I'd already planned on this Mommy Date and had run through a list of my own ideas of what we could do. We could finish our Christmas shopping for friends and family. Or go to the local pottery store and paint something together. We could hit up Chili's for an early dinner and eat our favorite Molten Chocolate Cake. Or run to the ice-cream parlor for a two-scoop hot fudge sundae.
Or we could do something she'd been begging me to do for weeks.
Molly, would you like to go to the homeless shelter and donate some blankets and things to them today?
Really Mommy?! That's exactly what I want to do! I'd been thinking about them all day!
My big girl, with her giant compassionate heart, had been asking to take things to the homeless shelter for over a month. So that morning I had packed up a pile of blankets, a couple bags of "like-new" stuffed animals and a bag of scarves, hats and mittens that were overflowing from our hall closet.
On our way there, she filled the car with an endless parade of questions....
How did people get homeless? What did they eat? Why didn't they go to Australia? Were there homeless kids? What about their pets? Did they really sleep outside sometimes in the rain? And so on...
I did my best to answer each one, honestly and at a level that she'd understand.
When we got there, I was quite surprised to see how HUGE the entire facility was. It took up almost an entire inner-city block. People were milling around everywhere, carrying grocery bags of clothes and sitting on every bench within a mile. Parking was difficult, so we were able to see quite a bit as we circled the building a few times, trying to find a place to park and unload our things. Molly just sat staring out the window, her questions at a silent halt, as she watched everything outside.
Finally, we pulled up to the front (as directed once I finally called the front desk) and Molly and I began to unload our items.
As I handed her the two bags of stuffed animals, she gently laid the pink Care Bear that she'd been holding in the car on top of the other toys. The Care Bear that she'd just purchased the week before with her own money at the store. Without a bit of hesitation, I knew my girl would be giving that toy away too.
Inside, our donations were taken promptly and as I filled out the necessary forms, Molly stood near me, eyes wide with wonder as she soaked everything in. As I said before, the place was huge, and the lobby we were in clearly displayed that. There were Christmas trees and garland and lights hung everywhere and you could see hallways leading off in all directions. There was a giant staircase in the middle and voices floating down from the upstairs halls.
Nearby, there was a group of young women and a handful of kids running amongst them as they stood and chatted. One little girl, with a dingy pink shirt and black curls tight and thick seemed to be close to Molly's age. As I finished signing the last of the forms, I could see the girls eyeing each other warily. Just as we turned to leave, one of the women announced it was time for dinner and the kids scurried away eager to eat.
When we were done with our donations, we headed outside to get back in the car. Outside the main entrance, there was a life-size nativity set and Molly begged for us to go have a closer look at the giant stable and painted-plaster figurines.
We walked across the muddy yard and stood a few feet away from Baby Jesus, surrounded by Joseph and Mary and the three Wise Men. I asked if Molly remembered what gifts had been brought to the baby that night and she quickly pointed out the gifts in their hands -
Gold, Frankincense and "Mirror".
Then, as if the thought had appeared in thin air, I commented out-loud...
Molly, this is such a perfect spot for a nativity set. It's outside a place for those that have nowhere to sleep....
And Molly, sometimes wise beyond her years, interrupted me and said...
Yes Mommy. And that's what the stable was for too. It gave Mary and Joseph a place to sleep when they had nowhere else to go.
****
It was that very moment that I want to treasure in my memory forever. A little girl that had everything she could ever ask for, standing in front of a place where people had nothing, understanding that it was a place like that where our Lord Savior was born.
****
As we drove away, Molly sat quietly for a bit and then began filling our drive with more questions about the homeless and asking what else we could give them. She announced that she wanted to give everything in her room to the homeless. And then she told me wished she could be homeless too.
In a way, I was grateful that her little mind was still too young to understand all that being homeless was. I was glad that she didn't know how absolutely terrible living like that must be.
And then, just before switching the subject to where we'd be going for dinner, she asked me...
Mommy, do you think that little girl will be happy when she gets my pink Care Bear?
Oh yes, my dear and precious child, I know she will.
