Sunday, December 14, 2008

San Quentin Toy Run, The Little Girl

As we walked to the toy drop off, I saw her; she was about four or five years old. She saw the box I was carrying, which had a princess outfit in it. I can still see the look on her face, she imagined herself a princess wearing the shimmery dress and the tiara and shoes with diamonds and rubies. She imagined herself special and wonderful.
Her mother saw this too and knew that she would not be a princess. Her mother knew that her daughter’s life would be very different than the dreams of a little girl. Her mother picked her up and turned her away to distract her from the coming disappointment.
I was supposed to take the presents to the community center where the presents would be distributed to the children. So I did not walk over to the little girl and give it to her. I didn’t think fast enough. I didn’t think well enough and the opportunity was gone. Why didn’t I just walk over and say, “This is for you.”

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