Dear Kitty,

By The Mind Filled on August 23, 2013 • ( 0 )

Dear Kitty,

Yesterday I saw something amazing. Even more amazing than the laundry being caught up or the floor being clean among 6 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats running across it (which isn’t really “amazing” but more in the “miracle” field.)

Strike that first sentence, because after thinking about it, I didn’t see something “amazing;” I saw a miracle.

As I scrolled through the radio stations in the car while waiting in the pick-up line at the elementary school, I was hearing the news reporting across most of the stations due to it being the top of an hour. “Another school shooting, public figure arrested for indecent behavior and suspects still at large after shooting on the East side,” was filing my ears and I gazed out my side window with eyes that looked at the horrible world that we live in.

Suddenly a flurry of activity on the playground beside me caught my attention. I watched as a small group of children were gathered fairly close, some were laughing and some were just staring at something I couldn’t see yet. A break appeared in the crowd, a little boy crying and holding his arm materialized. He began walking my direction which is also the way to the office. Another little boy came out of nowhere and threw his arm around the hurting child. The other kids broke up and went back to swings and slides; without a glance behind them.

Slowly they walked towards the office side by side. The child who was helping seemed to whisper in the crying boys ear and elicited a shaky nod. The tears of the boy wiped away and the arm never once left the shoulders all the way to the office.

My eyes that had been looking at this horrible world wanted to cry from the beauty and hope in front of me.

This helper wasn’t performing for an audience, his only attention was on the one that was hurting. He never saw my physical presence sitting there in awe, but I got blessed to see his heart.

I saw the heart of a Super Hero in a small boy that looked no different from any other kid on the playground that day.

So often we are so distracted by the horrible news around us in a world “Breaking Bad,” that we almost miss the slow plodding feet of a hero in action. Deeds that change lives and hearts happen all around us, but we can’t always see these ray of lights through the building storm clouds. When one does break through in brilliance, it shines bright enough to hide the ugly darkness. Unselfish love is hard to come by in these days of instant gratification to those who can do something for us.

This small boy didn’t care in that moment what the world has been telling him to be. He didn’t hear the majority cry of “help only yourself in this horrible world” or “only do good when you are going to be rewarded.” He was there when nobody else was; helping, guiding and comforting someone in need. It wasn’t for a reward or accolades from his influences; it was a super hero in action stuck in a elementary school boy’s body. Tiny feet and tiny hand with a huge heart.

No, I don’t always get to see a miracle, but I wonder if this is because I am just not looking at what average people, like you and I, are doing. I’ve become so conditioned at looking at the world and it’s people the way I am told, that I almost missed a moment of utter beauty; a random act of kindness.

_____________________________

Dear Whoever Is Raising A Super Hero,

I know your days are filled with schedules, struggles with raising a child and a million things that you don’t feel you will ever do, but you are raising a super hero and I thank you. Sometimes we don’t see the heart beneath the layers of kid funk, homework and tantrums at bedtimes, but it is there and beating strongly. Somewhere along the way you exposed your child to the importance of being there for others in their time of need. At some point you showed them through your own actions or pointing out the actions of someone else, that to be “second” is the most honorable position.

Because of this, there will be a time that your little hero puts on a cape and demonstrates what being a champion is. You may never see it for yourself, but know in that moment there are so many others that were impacted and changed by this child of yours. In a single moment, your child showed others what is truly right in this world and although it may have not been a huge production, the miracle was in the simplicity and purity of your child’s willingness to save the world one act of kindness at a time.

Thank you for raising a super hero that combats all that is wrong with this world. As you pick up their shoes for the millionth time that you tripped over, know that you are picking up the shoes of some feet that made an impact as they left footprints on someone’s heart.