TRUE CHRISTMAS STORY: On Christmas Eve as I drove my family (my son, his wife, their baby girl, and also my daughter—who had been in a head-on collision that morning) to see a big holiday lights display, we passed a soup kitchen. My focus was on the road, so I didn't glance at the parking lot, but my son and daughter-in-love did, and they thought they saw a baby's carseat. I could hear them discussing it in the backseat but pretended I didn't. It had been a long, stressful day, and we had places to be and things to do before I could fall onto the couch to sleep (to be closer to my daughter, should she need me). My normally Pollyanna optimistic self said there was no baby in that carseat, and if there was (which I felt sure there wasn't), God would send someone else along to find it. He wouldn't put that on me. Not now.
Finally, my daughter-in-law Hope spoke louder. "Can you hear what we're talking about?"
Sigh. "Yes." Pause. "Were there any cars in the parking lot?"
The pair took turns speaking. "No. Can we go back?" "I'd really feel better if we go look." "What if there is a baby? It could get hypothermia before anyone finds it." "Why would there be a carseat there?" "We need to check it out." "I'm going to worry until we know for sure."
SIGH. Okay, so I turned the car around and drove back to the soup kitchen. Hope leapt out of the car and ran to the carseat...which was empty. A donation, maybe?
I love that my son and his wife both have big, compassionate hearts. That even as tired new parents, they won't turn a blind eye to a possible need. That there is room in their inn for an unexpected baby, should one arrive on Christmas Eve. Maybe when I grow up, I will be more like them.
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| My granddaughter, awestruck by all the lights |
