Little People Love

girl at play

2 times now this has happened. Annabelle and I are walking down the street, minding our business. We're on a sidewalk that is tiny and we get to a point where people are trying to walk around us without getting hit by a big city bus...and in that group of people is another small child. A tiny little girl, no more than 2 years old.

Annabelle and the girl make eye contact. They stop in the middle of the sidewalk, grasp hands, and just stare at eachother. They don't know eachother, don't speak the same language, and both have parents tugging on their hands, trying to get them to keep moving to keep from getting hit by traffic...but there is just a stronger connection. They identify with each other, and the love that they show to eachother in those brief moments just amazes me.
As we walk down the street, Annabelle says, "Mama, I like that little girl, she's so sweet."

I don't remember when I lost this connection with strangers. I find myself at times in a room of people, and not able to describe what a single person looks like. I'm trying to change that, be more aware of others, less self-absorbed and insecure.

A few days ago I had to run to the video store, and on my way home, I stopped at the only grocery store in town that carries peanut butter that's not mixed with grape jelly or chili pepper. (Mexican's put chili pepper in EVERYTHING) I ran inside, grabbed one huge jar (they only have one size) and carried it to the cashier to pay. I was looking around at the other customers, with carts FULL of food, and felt a little silly holding my one massive jar of peanut butter. I was trying to hide it from other people, not sure why I felt so stupid, and I looked up just in time to notice a small Mexican woman in the line next to me. She was clutching one huge jar of peanut butter with both hands, almost as if she were trying to hide it. We made eye contact, glanced down at each others purchase, and looked at each other again and just laughed and laughed. Had we been closer (and 3 years old) I'm sure we would have held hands briefly, until the cashier informed us that it was time to move along, down the streets, feeling connected in some strange way to each other...

posted by mindi11 @ 4/12/2005 11:48:00 PM