Today, I gave a little boy a large ball for no reason other than he wanted it. It was lunchtime, and I was hungry, but I was even hungrier for an out-of-town grandchild. The little boy must have been about 2 years old, and he stood in front of the large plastic cone shaped ball holder and stared at them in amazement. Red, yellow, blue balls big and shiny, and he spread his arms wide and said “Big ball!” over and over, turning toward his young mother in excitement.
His mother said, “We’re not buying that!” and told him to hurry up and come with her down the aisle. But he had already grabbed a yellow one from the bottom. It was nearly as big as he was, and he was holding on as tight as he could. I still remember those days in my own life, trying to take my kids grocery shopping and fending off all the exciting things they wanted which were either not good for them or too expensive. But today, my kids are grown, and I have the luxury of more time and more money than I had back then. I caught up with the woman walking with his mother who looked as if she might be his grandmother and told her my own grandchild was out of town and could I get the ball for him?
She looked over at the little boy still clutching the ball, and she smiled a bit hesitatingly I thought, but she said, “Sure.” Then I told the little boy to wait for me while I paid for the ball, and he handed it to me trustingly and nodded, not at all surprised that this total stranger wanted to buy him a ball. I rushed over to the checkout counter and bought the ball. When I got back to the ball cage, he was standing there, waiting, his eyes lit up like Christmas, and he took the ball in his arms and toddled off to join his family just a few feet away picking out vegetables. “Ball,” he was still saying ecstatically. His grandmother smiled and I both smiled at him.
Then I went over to the deli counter and rewarded myself with mac and cheese and lima beans and a piece of corn bread for good measure.
