A BABY'S
HUG
We were the only family with
children in the restaurant.
I sat Erik in a high chair and
noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking.
Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee
and said, "Hi there." He pounded his
fat baby hands on the highchair tray.
His eyes were crinkled in laughter
and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as
he wriggled and giggled with merriment.
I looked around and saw the source
of merriment.
It was a man whose pants were
baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes
poked out of would-be shoes.
His shirt was dirty and his hair
was uncombed and unwashed.
His whiskers were too short to be
called a beard and his nose was so varicose it
looked like a road map.
We were too far from him to smell,
but I was sure he smelled.
His hands waved and flapped on
loose wrists.
"Hi there, baby; Hi there,
big boy.
I see ya, buster," the man
said to Erik.
My husband and I exchanged looks,
"What do we do?" Erik continued to
laugh and answer, "Hi, hi there."
Everyone in the restaurant noticed
and looked at us and then at the man.
The old geezer was creating a
nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came
and the man began shouting from across the room,
"Do ya patty cake?
Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look,
he knows peek-a-boo." Nobody thought the old
man was cute.
He was obviously drunk. My husband
and I were embarrassed.
We ate in silence; all except for
Erik, who was running through his repertoire for
the admiring skid row bum, who in turn,
reciprocated with his cute comments.
We finally got through the meal
and headed for the door.
My husband went to pay the check
and told me to meet him in the parking lot.
The old man sat poised between the
door and me. "Lord, just let me out of here
before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed.
As I drew closer to the man, I
turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid
any air he might be breathing.
As I did, Erik leaned over my arm,
reaching with both arms in a baby's
"pick-me-up" position.
Before I could stop him, Erik had
propelled himself from my arms to the man's.
Suddenly a very old smelly man and
a very young baby consummated their love
relationship.
Erik in an act of total trust,
love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the
man's ragged shoulder.
The man's eyes closed, and I saw
tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands
full of grime, pain, and hard labour, cradled my
baby's bottom and stroked his back.
No two beings have ever loved so
deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck.
The old man rocked and cradled
Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set
squarely on mine.. He said in a firm commanding
voice, "You take care of this baby."
Somehow I managed, "I
will," from a throat that contained a stone.
He pried Erik from his chest
unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in
pain.
I received my baby, and the man
said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me
my Christmas gift."
I said nothing more than muttered
thanks.
With Erik in my arms, I ran for
the car.
My husband was wondering why I was
crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was
saying, "My God, my God, forgive me."
I had just witnessed Christ's love
shown through the innocence of a tiny child who
saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw
a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes.
I was a Christian who was blind,
holding a child who was not.
I felt it was God asking,
"Are you willing to share your son for a
moment?" when He shared His for all
eternity.
The ragged old man, unwittingly,
had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of
God, we must become as little children."
"You can tell the true
character of a man by the way he treats someone
who can do absolutely nothing for him".
Author Unknown
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