Judge Not

It was early afternoon, a few weeks ago. The lioness, March, was tossing the clouds about in the sky and the carts in the parking lot as well. I hurried my steps, pushing into the wind. My destination was the pharmacy inside the grocers where a prescription awaited me.

Ah yes, dear friends, the grocery store where many of my meaningful conversations happen.

I grabbed a cart and walked down the seasonal aisle; green shamrock napkins blending with jellybean eggs and enough bunnies for a year’s worth of Rabbit Rabbit days. As a voice behind me said  “Do NOT look to the right. I’m not buying any of this.“a multi-colored, twinkling ball bounced past me. “Good luck with that” I said as we both headed to pharmacy.

The mother and I chatted as we waited our turn in line. The daughter, who looked about 10, held her doll close as she built her case for “needing” the magic, glowing ball. Children are good at this; tenacious in their determination to get what they want. In my grandmotherly attempt to turn the girl’s attention to something else, I told her that her doll must be special to her and I mentioned that it was a big doll. The child stood the doll on the ground and said “She’s not big. Look how small she is“.  From this young girl’s perspective, the doll wasn’t all the big, and I concurred.

The mother, whose hands now were filled with a box of bandages and ibuprofen, asked her daughter if she would please go back to get a shopping cart. As the girl turned to go back down the aisle of all things seasonal and needed, she handed her doll to her mom.

The mother looked at me, holding the doll, and said, quietly “Thank you for being so kind to her. She loves this doll and takes it everywhere. Not everyone understands.”  She talked about her daughter’s challenges, showed me all the bandages on the doll’s face and explained that her daughter changed the bandages almost every day,  slept with the doll, the doll came with on errands and went to church with her.

Soon enough, I heard a cart bump into a shelf. A few extra “needed” things thrown in. “Wow. You found a few toys!” I said as the mom took the cart and handed the doll back to her daughter, mouthing “thank you” as the moved ahead in the line. I winked and said “ thank YOU” back.

We learn much from children, if we take the time. Tenacity and patience, love and acceptance. Caring and serving others. This young girl had some developmental challenges, and a heart as big as Mr. Rodgers. She reminded me that we all must love each other – just as we are.

Her doll’s name was Chucky.

 

Image of Chucky from walmart. com

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