I was driving home from a grocery run and this kid no more than 4 years old caught my eye at a stop sign. He was staring at me and as I looked over at him, he smiled and waved. I smiled and waived back and he was so happy he got someone to wave back at him. I assume it was some game he was playing to see who would wave. I gave him a little honk-honk and left.
I don't know what the fuck happened to me but I got really emotional. All I could picture was a kid that probably looks exactly like him somewhere in a bunker having God knows what done to him.
I have had a very hard time sleeping over the past 5 years just thinking about the horrors. It comes at me time to time.
This particular moment hit me like a fucking brick. I went silent after and my wife noticed it. Obviously, I didn't say anything to her about what I was really thinking but man, that kids face is tattooed into my brain now.
You’ve gotta work at seeing it sometimes, but there’s a rainbow in those storm clouds we’re always seeing… the smile on that kid’s face. The “thank you” when you get the chance to hold the door for somebody, plus the option to throw a “no problem” or “don’t worry about it” their way. The smoothest stone let’s the waters flow over it, the ones that let themselves get dashed against other rocks end up jagged. Hopefully enough of us get smoothed out and settled enough that others can step across the water without getting too wet. We pile here together to help build a sturdier, safer path for them.