Saturday, January 5, 2013

Gone

I am really bad at names.  Everybody says they are bad at names but I really am.  Yesterday I was told that a little girl died in an orphanage Annette and I have helped in the past.  I spent a considerable effort trying to get straight which orphanage was being described. 

Finally I said the one where my son played and laughed with the kids in the rain and I slept on the floor?  Instantly my sons face and this other wet face popped into my mind.

The moment is crystal clear in my memory of these wet happy faces gathering buckets of rain water.  The laughter and the joy that filled the air that night will live with me forever. 

This morning I asked for a picture of the little girl that had died of typhoid.  The picture shocked me to my core.  The face is the same face that I envisioned.  This one really hurt.

I'm sorry I didn't ask your name then.  I'm sorry that even if I had I would not have remembered your name today.  I will remember your laughter and the joy you brought to my ten year old son forever.

https://www.meaningfulmedicine.org/donations

No comments:

Post a Comment